


Camp Brightmoon

by elysianrogue (l_ecrivain)



Series: Camp Brightmoon Universe [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Awkward Romance, Camp, Fluff and Angst, How Do I Tag, Summer Camp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 74,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25587280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/l_ecrivain/pseuds/elysianrogue
Summary: After Catra's childhood camp and current summer job, The Fright Zone, gets shut down, she finds herself working at a new camp for the summer to make ends meet.She expects it to be the same as any other summer job until she runs into Adora, her childhood best friend she hasnt spoken to since their last big fight years before. Things only get more complicated when she clashes majorly with Adora's new best friend and the camp directors daughter, Glimmer.Things couldn't possibly get any worse, right?Wrong.What happens when they're all assigned the same cabin of campers and their campers decide to play matchmaker?
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra), Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Entrapta & Scorpia (She-Ra), Catra & Frosta (She-Ra), Catra & Scorpia (She-Ra), Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: Camp Brightmoon Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031505
Comments: 202
Kudos: 331





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was hot on Catra's bare arms as she unloaded her various bags and boxes from the trunk of her beat up Honda Civic. The ancient car rattled unsettlingly when she slammed the trunk shut and turned to face the entrance to the camp she'd be spending the next three months at. She squinted up at the obnoxious wooden arch that had the words Camp Brightmoon written along the top, the lilac purple paint on the letters peeling in some places. She supposed it still looked better than the broken The Fright Zone Camp sign that had letters dangling from their post and red and neon green paint splatters from rowdy kids all over its surface. Not that it mattered now. Not since it got shut down.

Not following proper safety protocols, they had said. Out of date equipment, they had said. Counsellors not trained properly, they had said.

Catra forced back an eye roll at the thought, pushing her sunglasses back up the bridge of her freckled nose. The camp had been running fine. The kids had fun. Sure, maybe some of the boats looked like they could sink any moment. And maybe the kids were left to their own devices at night more than they should've been. And only half the counsellors had legit first aid training....

Catra huffed. Everything had been fine. And now she was stuck working at a different camp than the one she had gone to her whole life. It might not have been the best place but it was still her home.

But despite her bitterness, she was also broke. She needed this job. So she went to the interview, she sucked up to the stupid camp director, she waited for weeks, and now she was here. Two weeks before the kids arrived.

They called it orientation. A chance for her to get to know her fellow counsellors and learn the ropes. God knows why they needed two whole weeks to do so. But like was said, she needed this job. She slung her duffel bag over her shoulder, pulled up the handle on her very large suitcase, and hoisted a box of various Items onto her other shoulder before starting her trek into the camp.

She only got about twenty feet into center camp before someone was jogging towards her with a huge grin. He slid to a stop in front of her, close enough that she could practically see his teeth shining from how wide his grin was. He was wearing a bright pink cut off t-shirt with the words Camp Brightmoon scrawled across the front in a shimmery purple colour and jean shorts. The shirt looked handmade with its messy font and jagged edge where he had clearly cropped the shirt himself.

"Hey!" he exclaimed brightly. "Do you need any help carrying stuff?"

"I got it," Catra replied, readjusting the box on her shoulder. When the boy didn't immediately move out of her way, she arched a brow questioningly.

"I'm Bow by the way," he said quickly. "You must be one of the new counsellors from the other camp?" He ended the statement like he was asking her.

With a barely contained sigh, Catra said, "Yeah, I'm Catra."

Bow beamed. "Nice to meet you!"

"Uh, yeah, you too." Catra shifted on her feet. "Could you point me toward Thaymor? That's where I'm bunking."

Bow nodded. "Oh yeah!" He turned and pointed to a cabin just barely in sight, near the stairs descending to the lake. "It's that one over there."

Catra nodded. "Cool."

Bow beamed at her again. "I'll see you later!" He practically skipped back over to a group of counsellors standing by the large building Catra assumed was the dining hall.

It only took a few minutes for her to reach the cabin Bow had pointed out. She confirmed it was the right one by the hand painted sign hanging above the door that said Thaymor before heading inside. She was almost surprised to see that the cabin was empty. Almost. She figured mostly everyone was already over by the dining hall chatting and making friends. She made a face at the idea as she set her bags down. Pushing her dark hair out of her face and fixing her sunglasses once more, she wondered if Scorpia had already arrived.

Catra knew she should probably go out and see what everyone was doing, but all she wanted to do was organize all her stuff before she had to face the new world out there. It was a requirement at The Fright Zone. Everything had to be put away before they could start the day. Old habits die hard, yknow. So she started with the box. It mostly had books, mugs for coffee, coffee, snacks, some accessories and most of her toiletries. She picked the top bunk in the furthest corner of the cabin. She liked the height and it looked like nobody had chosen the surrounding bunks yet. Plus there was a window right beside it and an extra cubby to organize her stuff. She sorted her belongings, setting out most of the items from the box and some essential clothes like sweaters, jackets and hats that she would want to be able to grab quickly. She had already sorted most of her most often worn clothes into her suitcase as opposed to her duffel bag so they would be easier to just pull out and access. The rest of her stuff stayed in the duffel bag. She shoved the duffel bag and suitcase under the bottom bunk of her bed, straightened up, and dusted her hands off on her red shorts.

Glancing around the cabin and finding nothing else to prevent her from heading back to center camp, Catra resigned herself to heading out. She walked slowly back to where the rest of the arrived counsellors were gathered. When everyone came into sight, she scanned the crowd for the few familiar faces she knew were supposed to be there. She practically choked when she noticed a familiar blonde who was definitely not supposed to be there, talking excitedly to a girl with shimmering pink hair and the boy, Bow, from earlier, her blue eyes shining as she spoke.

Catra halted in place, her eyes glued to the blonde in question, furiously fighting the rising heat in her cheeks. She blinked, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. Of all places, she thought bitterly. She managed to take a deep breath, running a hand through her hair, trying to quell the old anger that had been sparked before she was interrupted by a familiar voice calling out her name.

"Catra!"

The girl in question turned her head just in time to recognize Scorpia's short white hair and towering figure before she was scooped up in the white-haired girl's arms for a giant bear hug.

"Aw man is it good to see you, Wildcat!" Scorpia cried happily. "It feels like it's been ages!"

Catra tried to pry herself out of the too-long hug. "It's only been three weeks, Scorpia."

Scorpia finally put the brunette girl down before saying, "Has it really been that long? I'm so excited to be here, it's crazy.  We have the whole summer now to hang out. It's gonna be so much fun! Sure sucks about The Fright Zone though. I can't believe it finally closed after all this..."

Catra listened to Scorpia ramble for a few minutes as they walked a deliberately wide circle around the other counsellors to get to the front near the wooden walkway leading into the building. She leaned against the wall and folded her arms across her chest, only partially listening to the taller girl who was still rambling about how amazing this summer was going to be with a wide grin on her face. Catra scanned the crowd once more, now searching out the familiar blonde, still refusing to put a name to her face and force herself to face reality.

Her mismatched eyes landed on her target rather quickly. The blonde was laughing loudly at something the pink-haired girl said. Catra pursued her lips as she took in her appearance. She was still wearing that dumb red jacket but at least in this weather it was wrapped snuggly around her waist. Otherwise she wore black shorts and a more official looking white Camp Brightmoon shirt. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail. Catra suppressed a scoff. Seems she still didn't know any hairstyle beyond her ponytail.

Her gaze drifted slowly to the other girl. Her pink hair was loose, hanging wildly around her heart-shaped face. Her shirt was purple tie-dye, not a logo in sight and her shorts were a dark blue denim. She was gesturing wildly as she spoke, occasionally poking or prodding Bow or the other girl playfully.

Catra licked her lips before turning and squinting at Scorpia, who was somehow standing right in front of the late afternoon sun, the light creating a halo around the taller girl. "When's Entrapta supposed to get here?" she questioned, cutting Scorpia's rambling off.

"Oh, yeah, did she not tell you?" Scorpia started. "She had to help Hordak with some things. Uh, she said she would be here... tomorrow? Yeah, tomorrow! She'll be here tomorrow."

"Oh," was Catra's only response, having already been distracted by the movement of the blonde and her friends. She noticed them looking towards the other end of the wooden porch.

Upon following their gaze, she noticed a raven-haired man standing there, clearly trying to get everyone's attention by waving his hands and calling out vaguely a few times. She quickly tuned into what he was saying.

"Everyone! Over here! If you could all just take a minute and listen up, we can get started!" A hush fell over the crowd. "Perfect! Awesome! Okay so, most of you know me, but I see some new faces out there, so for their sake: Hi, I'm Micah! Welcome to Camp Brightmoon!"

Scattered applause and cheers rang through the crowd. Catra ignored the sentiment, but continued to watch and listen carefully.

"Since this is our first day back of the year, it's going to be a pretty easy day," Micah began explaining. "Most of you have settled into your currently sleeping arrangements... some of you will be moving come time for the campers arrival, but that is a problem for another day. Today we'll keep it easy and just have some lunch and let you socialize. For those of you who are new, feel free to do some exploring. Those of you who are not, play tour guide. There's a lot to see and learn. Dinner will be served at 6 o'clock and afterwards we'll have our opening campfire. But until then, let's go eat!"

More cheers erupted before the crowd burst into activity and everyone started heading into the dining hall. Catra looked back to make sure Scorpia was following before wading into the middle of the crowd, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. The pair quickly found a table in the back corner. Scorpia left to go grab their food. Catra was tapping her fingers impatiently upon the wooden surface of the table when Bow approached.

"Hey Catra," he greeted. "I was wondering if you and Scorpia wanted to come sit with my friends and I?" He beamed the same bright smile from earlier at her again and Catra forced herself not to frown, instead settling for an indifferent smirk.

"Maybe later," she said dismissively. Bow nodded eagerly all the same before heading back to his table.

She glanced over at the table, only to come face to face--or rather eye to eye--with those same familiar blue eyes. She practically jumped when she realized, but couldn't look away. She felt herself being picked apart through the stare. Not maliciously or anything. But she knew she had to face it. There was no denying it now.

Adora was here.

Adora was looking right at her.

Adora knew exactly who she was.

Catra groaned.

This was going to be a long summer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tours and introductions lead to some weird exchanges

The afternoon passed in a flash of activities and exploration. After lunch, a couple of the older counselors were offering up tours of the grounds so that the newbies could find their way around. Catra reluctantly followed a couple of fourth year counselors (who she later remembered were named Spinnerella and Netossa) around the grounds after Scorpia excitedly accepted their offer before Catra could say anything. They were shown the docks, the boats, the archery range, the rock climbing walls, most of the cabins, the Arts and Crafts building, and a few important field areas. The tour only lasted about an hour before the one girl Netossa decided to wrap it up and let the pair explore a bit themselves.

Catra waved awkwardly as Scorpia thanked the pair very enthusiastically before they parted ways, leaving Catra and Scorpia near the archery range. Scorpia talked a mile a minute as they started walking further into the forest about everything from how cool the rock climbing walls were (the ones at the Fright Zone were  _ hazardous _ ) to how cool Netossa and Spinnerella were. Catra tuned into the stream of words enough to give some one-word responses to the white-haired girl, but was mostly focused on the path they found themselves on. If she remembered correctly, she knew they would be passing the rock climbing area soon, but she pushed further, scanning for things she missed on the first round.

Upon noticing an opening in the dense trees that sloped downwards, she stopped and headed towards it. The path through the opening went down a hill into an open area and she could barely make out a path or two that had clearly been created out of habitual walks and not the construction of the camp. She decided that was something she'd explore later. Alone. She checked her watch. Dinner was in forty minutes. She turned away from the path and glanced around, reassessing what part of camp they were in. She could see a couple of the outer cabins and the rock climbing area not too far away. She looked to her right and noticed a large rock protruding from the ground.

Satisfied she'd be able to find this place again later, she turned to Scorpia who had trailed off a little while ago and was now looking at the brunette expectantly. "We should head back," Catra said. "Dinner's soon."

Scorpia nodded, quickly taking the lead. "I wonder what we're eating for dinner," she wondered aloud. "Those sandwiches were amazing! And the fries too! Oh man, yeah. Nothing like the Fright Zone's food. Everything was so fresh!"

Catra nodded along quietly as Scorpia spoke, but her mind was elsewhere. Her thoughts wandered back to the familiar blonde hair and blue eyes of Adora. What did Adora think of her being here? It'd been almost four years since they last spoke. A lot had changed for Catra. She wondered what had changed for Adora. Brow furrowed, she wondered why she cared so much. Adora had chosen her side. It was just pure irony that Catra ended up in the same place. What a joke. Of course, she'd end up back right where Adora was. Always there to be second best.

Catra scowled and kicked a rock. She looked up as they entered center camp once more. Scorpia's eyes lit up as she noticed someone standing by the Arts and Crafts building and it took all of Catra's balance not to fall flat on her face when Scorpia dragged her over to say hi.

"Catra, this is Perfuma," Scorpia introduced excitedly. "We got talking before you arrived. Perfuma, this is Catra."

Catra looked the tall girl up and down. Her long blonde hair was braided, flowers weaved into the plait, and it hung over her bare shoulders. Her tank top was bright pink, contrasting against her forest green shorts. She was smiling brightly at Catra. She looked straight out of a Disney movie, Catra thought dryly.

"It's wonderful to meet you!" Perfuma exclaimed. "Scorpia was telling me all about you earlier. She couldn't wait for you to arrive."

Catra met Scorpia's beaming grin with a shy smile before turning to Perfuma. "Uh, yeah, you too. It's pretty cool here."

Perfuma laughed. It sounded like a bird song, high and airy. "Camp Brightmoon is the best! Everyone finds a home here." 

Scorpia nodded in agreement. "Everyone's so nice! It already feels like another home."

Catra bit the inside of her cheek and didn't respond. Sure, the place was nice, but she'd only been here for a couple hours. "Why don't we check out A&C, Scorpia?" 

"Sure thing, Wildcat." Scorpia looked at Perfuma. "You want to come?"

Perfuma smiled. "I'm alright right now. I have to check on the gardens. I'll see you guys at dinner."

After a quick goodbye, Catra and Scorpia headed into the relatively big building and were immediately greeted with a boom of voices and laughter. The building itself was all one big room, except for a tiny backroom Catra could see for storage. There were tables scattered about and shelves filled with craft supplies, books, toys, and costume clothing lined the walls. Near the counter, right before the storage room, was a large platform stage which was currently occupied by a couple counsellors Catra recognized from earlier in the day.

A man with plum coloured hair and a ridiculous mustache stood center stage, belting out some ridiculous song with as much dramatics as possible. Flanking him was Bow with a huge grin as he sang along and the pair made fools of themselves on the wooden stage. Catra smirked as she and Scorpia took over an unoccupied table closer to the back. The two men were pretty entertaining to watch together.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of pink-hair. She looked over and saw the girl sitting near the front beside Adora, giggling over the performance and whispering in the blonde's ear, causing Adora to laugh loudly. The pink-haired girl blushed. Catra snickered. The table they sat at was crowding with people, some Catra recognized, others were unfamiliar.

The song came to an end with Bow and the other counsellor grinning widely at each other, slightly out of breath. A few cheers, mostly teasing broke out from the crowd as the pair dismounted the stage and a tall, lanky blonde stepped onto the platform, turning to face the crowd.

"Any last minute performances before dinner?" they called out into the crowd. "Come show off some skills. My stage is all for the taking right now." They grinned.

"It's not just your stage, DT!" someone from one of the tables called out with a burst of laughter.

"I guess I'll have to put my name on it then," they teased. "How about "Double Trouble: Actor Extraordinaire"?" 

"Next!" someone shouted followed by another burst of laughter. 

Double Trouble rolled their eyes. "Well, anyone? We've only got about ten minutes."

Beside her, Catra heard Scorpia clear her throat and say, "I'll go." It sounded more like a question.

Double Trouble grinned. "Ah, a newcomer! Welcome! To my stage."

The crowd laughed. Scorpia stood and made her way to the stage. Catra pursed her lips, wondering what her friend was thinking.

"Oh hey everyone," Scorpia began with a nervous laugh once she had mounted the platform. "I'm Scorpia. I don't usually, uh, do something like this, but you know, new places, new people, new things, heh, yeah. I like to, uh, sing so I'm just gonna go ahead and do that." A few laughs echoed from the crowd, but not at Scorpia.

Catra watched as her friend cleared her throat once more. Scorpia scanned the crowd and made eye contact with Catra. Catra nodded. It was the only support she could offer in the moment.

Scorpia started slowly into a fun number she used to sing for the kids at The Fright Zone at their campfires, quickly picking up volume and speed as she became more confident. Most everyone was nodding along with grins on their faces. Catra watched Adora's eyes light up with recognition when Scorpia began before she started nodding along happily, mouthing the words to herself.

Scorpia wrapped up the song with a breathless grin and Catra cheered along with the rest of the crowd, for a moment not caring about the attention it drew. Scorpia strode back over to their table with a new jump to her step. Catra smirked at Scorpia. "That was awesome!"

Scorpia took a deep breath and grinned again. "It was, wasn't it? Man, I feel great. That was so much fun."

Double Trouble had taken their place on the stage once more and was smiling widely. "What a stunning performance!" they cried. "We'll have to have you back before long, darling. But unfortunately, the show must come to an end. I'll see you all at campfire tonight." They bowed gracefully before hopping off the stage and departing into the crowd of people standing to exit the building for dinner.

Catra waded her way through people again, listening to Scorpia recount her performance entirely from her point of view, and they headed back to the dining hall. As they were walking, Bow jogged up beside them.

"Scorpia! Catra!" he called before falling into step beside them and looking at Scorpia. "That was an awesome song, Scorpia! You're an amazing singer!"

"Aw thanks Bow!" Scorpia gushed. "I really didn't know I had it in me to do something like that. It was quite a thrill."

"It was great!" Bow grinned. "Hey, do you guys want to sit with us for dinner?"

Catra's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, Scorpia exclaimed, "Yes! Yes, we do. That would be great. So great. Thank you."

Oh yeah, so great, Catra thought as she let Scorpia and Bow drag her to the crowded center table that seated Adora, Bow and most of their friends. When they approached, Catra was nearly pleased to see Adora's eyes widen a fraction as she stupidly said, "Catra!" The surprise lacing her high pitched tone was amusing enough for Catra to ground her own spiraling thoughts to reply.

"Hey Adora," she practically purred, the smirk on her face saying it all. 

Bow looked confused for a moment before saying, "You two know each other?" When neither of them gave him so much as a nod, he continued, "Well, great. Less introductions for me. Guys, this is Scorpia and Catra."

Looking back at Catra and Scorpia, he pointed to the pink-haired girl who was seated beside Adora. "That's Glimmer." Glimmer glanced up at them with a thin smile. Catra wondered what Adora had told them about her. Next was a girl with blue hair and dark skin. "Mermista." She glanced up at them indifferently, the only sign she acknowledged them at all being the smallest upward quirk of her lips. Beside her was the other man from the stage with the ridiculous mustache. "Sea Hawk." He grinned widely at the pair, looking like he wanted to ask Scorpia a million questions. Across from him was Perfuma who beamed at the pair from her seat. Beside her were their tour guides from earlier, Netossa and Spinnerella. They were holding hands. Spinnerella smiled sweetly at them.

"And obviously, I'm Bow and that's Adora," he finished with a proud grin. "Now everyone knows each other."

Catra and Scorpia slid into the empty spots beside Spinnerella as Bow took his place beside Glimmer. Everyone chatted among each other as they usually would, Scorpia joining in quickly being much more the social one of the pair, while Catra avoided eye contact with a certain blonde. She opted instead to figure out why Glimmer was staring at her so intently. As soon as Catra looked at the other girl, she looked away, occupying herself with picking at her nails. Finding this game, easier than whatever was going on with Adora, Catra held her gaze steady on Glimmer. Glimmer looked back up and met Catra's stare with an expression Catra couldn't quite read.

"See something you like, Sparkles?" Catra teased before she could stop herself.

Glimmer scoffed. "You wish."

Catra opened her mouth to say something back but was interrupted by the dinner bell. She quickly stood. "I'll grab the food." Bow stood to help her.

As they headed for the kitchen serving counter, Catra could feel someone's stare burning holes into the back of her head. She couldn't decide if it was Glimmer or Adora.

She knew she'd find out by the end of the night. She smirked and went to collect the dinner of the night.

Fish and chips. Her favourite.

Maybe this night would go better than she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I know this doesnt have much in terms of glitradora or even glitra or catradora interactions but I promise I'm getting there lol. I think. I honestly havent a clue where this is going xD


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora over thinks everything. Nothing new there.

Dinner had been awkward to say the least.

And that was putting it nicely, Adora thought as she paced her cabin, thoughts moving a mile a minute. Bow had once told her that he was almost certain there was a tread mark in every cabin she'd slept in from her pacing. She paused, the thought procuring an amused snort from the blonde, before she began pacing once more. She was happy to have the cabin to herself while Glimmer and Bow helped set up for the opening campfire. Happy to be alone with her thoughts for just a moment so she could collect herself and form a plan.

Catra had been the last thing she expected to have come out of this summer. Of course, she'd heard about the closure of The Fright Zone. It had been all over the news. It was hard to miss. But she didn't expect Catra to come here. Catra was too loyal. Whether spitefully or for gain or just purely out of respect for the camp she (that both of them) had grown up going to, the last thing Adora expected was for her to show up at summer orientation for Brightmoon. 

And now she was spiralling at the thought.

Catra was here.

At Brightmoon.

She'd be here for the rest of the summer. They had two whole weeks without the buffer of campers. And logically, it wouldn't be hard for them to avoid each other. There were a lot of counsellors and they both had their own friends. That's probably what Catra wanted. But Adora wasn't so sure.

She couldn't ignore the excitement bubbling in her chest at the idea that maybe she could fix things. Fix them. It couldn't be unfixable. Nothing was.

The memory of their final fight stung. It sent prickly electricity shooting up her arms, numbing her fingers and drying her mouth. It hadn't been... it was... she hated thinking about it.

But maybe she could fix things. She wanted to grin so wide it hurt at the idea, but shoved the feeling away. There was no point in getting ahead of herself.

She bit her lip as she reassessed dinner in her mind. It... could've gone worse. If anything, Glimmer would be the only one she had to convince. Convince that Catra wasn't just the snarky, borderline rude exterior she had put up for dinner. Even if they had been shooting insults at each other for most of the meal. And Catra had ignored every conversation attempt Adora had made.

Okay maybe this would be harder than she thought.

She was yanked out of her thoughts when the cabin door slammed open and Bow burst excitedly into the room.

"Are you ready??" He exclaimed. "Campfire starts in five minutes!"

Adora nodded slowly, trying to regather the last thread of her thoughts before she forgot. Bow bounced on the balls of his feet, practically bursting at the seams. After a moment, Adora let him drag her out of the cabin and down the dirt path to the camp's firepit.

Glimmer beamed brightly when she spotted them approaching. She patted the empty spaces on either side of her on their usual bench right near the front. The fire was blazing brightly in front of them. Micah could be seen chatting happily with Angella and a few of the older counsellors. Glimmer was explaining something intently to Bow. Adora looked around, quickly zeroing in on Catra who was standing off the side, closer to the back, with Scorpia who looked completely enamoured with everything around her, her lips moving rapidly as she spoke to Catra. Catra looked like she was only kind of trying to pay attention. She didn't exactly looked bored, but she clearly wasnt thrilled to be there either.

Adora turned back to Glimmer and Bow. She knew Brightmoon was different than The Fright Zone, but Catra would see it was better eventually. It was safer and had better equipment and better leaders and better people.

She would see that it was better and see why Adora left.

Thinking back to their final argument again, Adora knew she was right. Of course, she had to leave. The Fright Zone was closed for good reason. The same good reason Adora left as soon as she could afford. She was better trained as a counsellor than she ever would've been at The Fright Zone. She had gotten first aid, lifeguarding, better mentors, better equipment. She had made the right decision.

Catra was the one who let it ruin their friendship. She was the one who started the fight. She was the one who stopped talking to Adora after that summer. She's the one who...

Adora shook her head. It didn't matter. This was her chance to fix things. And she would do whatever it took.

Glimmer nudged her and smiled softly. She nodded her head in the direction of the front, pulling Adora from her spiralling thoughts once more as Micah began speaking.

"Hello again!" he called out with a grin. "How was everyone's day?"

Cheers and whistles erupted from the crowd of counsellors.

Micah laughed. "I'll take that as a good sign." He put his hands together. "Now like I said at dinner, most of you know how these two weeks work. First years, you'll catch on quick." He winked. Adora snickered. 

He continued, "This particular event is less structured for you guys than when the campers arrive so after a few announcements and introductions, you can have free reign. Which I'm sure will include an encore of today's entertainment in A&C."

Bow cheered in agreement loudly alongside Sea Hawk and a few other counsellors.

"First things first," Micah said, rubbing his hands together. "Week one will have a few hours a day of icebreakers and refamiliarizing yourselves with all the different areas and activities in order to be prepared for the campers. Otherwise, you have free-reign. Within reason, of course. You know the rules. I only ask that you're respectful of others and their needs. So no late night parties!

"Week two will be less structured. You will learn who your co-counsellors are by the end of that week and what days you will be going on out trip. By the end of the week, everyone who is trained has to be signed up for their life guarding shifts for both boating and swimming. Most of you are trained so I dont expect any empty spaces. There will also be various meetings for each year level of counselling and those in charge of certain areas. Those who are new here, but not to counselling will be grouped in with the year level they'd be if they'd been counselling here from the beginning."

Micah looked around and pursed his lips. "I think... that's pretty much it. Just have fun! That's what we're here for."

He grinned before bowing out dramatically. Adora had heard the whole spiel before, but always found it amusing. She also liked to know what to expect. Anything new and all the things that stayed the same. 

Double Trouble instantly took the metaphorical stage. They laughed. "Welcome, ladies, gentlemen," they leaned forward with a conspiratorial grin, "and everyone in between, to yet another spectacular night of entertainment brought to you by yours truly."

"Boo!" came a laughing voice. "Share the stage!"

Double Trouble laughed. "The only thing shining as bright as me tonight, hunny, is that fire." They pointed a long finger toward the blaze. "But, since you asked so nicely," their voice was dripping with sarcasm as they practically strut around the firepit, "I'll leave tonight's show as an open mic. For those of you who think they can impress my audience."

Sea Hawk instantly jumped up and strode to the front of the crowd to stand near the fire. "How about a hearty shanty to kick off the night in the best way?" he cried with a smirk.

Bow was staring up at the older man with a look that can only be described as "sparkle eyes" with a huge grin on his face. Adora thought he was going to pass out when Sea Hawk winked at Bow and pulled the other boy up to join in on his "shanty". 

Glimmer was humming along happily as the boys sang and warmed the crowd up for the night. Adora glanced at her with a soft look, thoughts drifting to a few weeks prior.

Glimmer had kissed her.

It was impulsive and messy and adorable and Adora couldn't get the feeling of the smaller girl's soft lips out of her head. The instant burst of warmth and understanding she had felt as soon as Glimmer had leaned up and connected their lips. It was natural and simple and safe and...

They still hadn't talked about it.

Adora had almost forgotten in light of Catra's unexpected arrival back into her life. She wasn't sure what that meant. But looking at her best friend, eyes lit up with laughter and a sweet smile on her (soft, warm, safe...) lips, she knew they would have to talk about it soon. They had a whole summer together ahead of them.

Adora was pulled back to reality again by Bow plopping down beside Glimmer again with a loud, breathy laugh, his grin stretching from ear to ear. Adora smiled at him before focusing back at the front.

Double Trouble was calling for more volunteers with a mischievous look on their face. A few older counsellors went up and sang some songs and told some jokes. Netossa went up and told a ghost story about the camp, dramatically trying to freak out the first years and cackling when she partially succeeded.

Scorpia decided to go up once more and sing a couple songs. Adora observed that she had a nice voice. She'd liked what little interactions her and Scorpia had had so far. The thought brought her back to dinner. Scorpia had joined in on conversation almost right away and was clearly overjoyed to be there. The white-haired woman had tried to get Catra to join in, but Catra had remained mostly quiet aside from her occasional jibes at Glimmer and Bow.

Micah had approached their table to talk to Glimmer and it got the first words out of Catra since she had brought back their food.

"Your dad runs this place?" Catra had asked incredulously.

Glimmer shrugged. "Yeah. What's the big deal?"

"Oh nothing," Catra dismissed, going back to picking at her food.

"You sure about that?" Glimmer retorted.

Catra had laughed. "Sure am, Princess."

"Princess?" 

"That's what you are, isn't it? Daddy's little princess?"

Bow had cut in to change the subject rather loudly before Glimmer could reply, but Adora watched her simmer in her aggravation the rest of the meal.

Adora blinked. Double Trouble was standing up front once more, asking for any last volunteers before they ended things for the night to head to bed. Everyone had an early morning. Adora licked her lips before standing. Double Trouble nodded at her with a sly smile as she went to fetch one of the guitars that had been brought to the firepit.

She dragged one of the stumps over to sit in front of the fire. Sitting down on it and pulling out the guitar, she looked out into the small crowd. She debated saying something as she adjusted into a more comfortable position and picked at the strings experimentally.

Finally deciding and finishing her adjustments, she said simply, "Hey, most of you know me, and have seen me do this before, especially this song, but I'll just remind you that it's called 'First Day of My Life' by Bright Eyes." She smiled as she began playing.

She hummed along with the intro before she began singing the first verse quietly. 

"This is the first day of my life  
Swear I was born right in the doorway  
I went out in the rain, suddenly everything changed  
They're spreading blankets on the beach."

Her voice was low and rough. She was by no means an amazing singer, but the words were well-worn. It was one of the first songs she learned when she learned guitar after coming to Brightmoon.

"Yours was the first face that I saw  
I think I was blind before I met you  
And I don't know where I am, I don't know where I've been  
But I know where I want to go."

She glanced almost shyly at Glimmer who was staring at her with the same shocked but warm look she always had when Adora sang.

"And so I'd thought I'd let you know  
Yeah, these things take forever, I especially am slow  
But I realized that need you  
And I wondered if I could come home."

Glimmer had closed her eyes, leaning onto Bow, and Adora could see her quietly mouthing the words.

"Remember the time you drove all night  
Just to meet me in the morning?  
And I thought it was strange, you said everything changed  
You felt as if you just woke up."

Adora's gaze drifted over to the corner where Catra stood. Her voice hitched the slightest bit at the stunned look on Catra's face.

"And you said  
'This is the first day of my life  
I'm glad I didn't die before I met you  
But now I don't care, I could go anywhere with you  
And I'd probably be happy'."

Adora couldn't tear her gaze away from Catra. She knew the other girl knew she was staring. Her mismatched eyes stared back curiously.

"So if you wanna be with me  
With these things there's no telling  
We just have to wait and see  
But I'd rather be working for a paycheck  
Than waiting to win the lottery."

Catra rolled her eyes and Adora knew she was quietly lamenting how predictable the blonde was. She didn't care.

"Besides, maybe this time is different  
I mean, I really think you like me."

Adora ripped her gaze away from Catra to look at Glimmer again as she finished off the song. The pink-haired girl is beaming proudly like she does every time Adora performs. Another shy smile tugs at Adora's lips.

After Adora's song, everyone slowly starts to get up and move away from the firepit, heading to their cabins for the night mostly. Adora loses track of Catra on the crowd too quickly, but shelves that thought for later when Glimmer hugs her tightly. 

Bow, Glimmer and her start to head back to their cabin, talking amongst themselves. Adora remains mostly quiet, her thoughts racing once more.

Glimmer. Catra. Glimmer. Catra.

Adora doesn't know what she's thinking but she knows that the night ahead was going to be occupied with thoughts of the two girls.

Best friend. Ex best friend.

Adora let her thoughts wander, resigning herself to the long night with a sigh.

She was grounded slightly when Glimmer intertwined their fingers and smiled happily at her.

Okay. Maybe she could stay here for a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Lemme know what you think :-)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora tries to figure out what the hell she's doing. It doesn't go very well.

"So you and Catra were friends at Fright Zone?" Bow asked as he shoved a mouthful of pancakes into his mouth. Syrup dripped down his chin and Glimmer handed him a napkin with an amused snort. "What happened?"

Adora's gaze shot up to look at her best friends. "Nothing happened," she said, blowing some loose hair out of her eyes and stabbing her fork harshly. Her eyes drifted back down.

Glimmer sighed, reaching a hand across the table to rest gently but firmly on Adora's wrist. "Clearly something happened," she said. "You've been acting weird for days. Ever since campfire."

"And you're only angrily stabbing your pancakes, not eating them," added Bow with a knowing look, eyes shining with concern.

Adora shrugged. "It's not important. It was just," she paused, finally taking a bite and chewing it thoughtfully, "unexpected, I guess."

"How so?" asked Bow, curiosity splayed across his face. "We knew a bunch of counsellors from Fright Zone would be coming here when it closed."

"You don't know Catra like I do," the blonde said quickly, a slight flush coating her cheeks as she realized what she said. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she continued picking at her food aimlessly.

The dining hall had slowly emptied, leaving just the three of them sitting inside. Echoes of dishes clattering and pots crashing into sinks could be heard from the kitchen. They'd wandered into breakfast pretty late after Glimmer had lost her shoe and they had to search the whole cabin for it. Thankfully, it was only them in the cabin so they didn't have to sort through too much stuff.

"So something did happen!" cried Bow, pointing right at Adora, the tip of his finger only inches away from her nose. She could lean forward and press her nose to it. Maybe that would distract him. Anything to get out of this conversation.

Adora watched as pink rose into Glimmer's cheeks after Bow's words. She wondered what the other girl was thinking. Wondered what had caused the blush. What implications could Bow's words have? She licked her lips. Glimmer's eyes were on her now, pink still warm on her cheeks. Adora felt warmth crawl up her neck. Bow was looking at her expectantly. 

"We're," she swallowed, "we grew up together... in and out of camp. Foster care. We only had each other, um... she relied on me. Our foster mom wasn't great. I... left as soon as I could. Catra... hates me for it. I think. We haven't spoken in years. Not since before I came here. So it was just a shock. Seeing her here. I thought maybe I could fix things, but she'll barely talk to me." She quieted for a moment, pressing her lips together again, pushing down the bubbling anxiety in her chest. "It's fine. She clearly doesn't want anything to do with me."

Glimmer made a sour face. "Wow. She can't just blame you for getting out of a bad situation."

Adora perked up a bit, her anxiety reaching her eyes momentarily. "No no, I left her alone there. She should be angry."

"Adora, no, that's not your fault," Glimmer said firmly, squeezing Adora's wrist.

Adora knew that Catra thought it was... knew that it was. Seeing her again had just yanked all that guilt back to the front of her mind, leaving her to stew in it while Catra barely gave her the time of day. She had been seeing her around the campgrounds with Scorpia and Entrapta. She tried to talk to her twice and both times were met with a clipped tone, bordering on defensive with just as much snark as the brunette spoke to Glimmer with. They all ate most of their meals together with their usual large group. The few times their eyes had met--across the table, passing by each other, from opposite ends of the archery range--she'd been met with cold, guarded anger. Nothing beyond that since the surprising curiosity the night of Adora's performance at the campfire. Adora wanted that look back. Something she could work with. 

She needed to fix this.

Bow said something and she shook herself out of her thoughts. "What?"

"Maybe this summer will be a good thing," Bow said optimistically. He stacked their plates, seeing Adora had pretty much abandoned her breakfast.

Glimmer smiled softly. "Maybe yeah." She didn't sound convinced.

Amusement tugged at the corner of Adora's lips from Glimmer's tone. What Bow was suggesting--Glimmer wanted none of it. Adora bit down a laugh. 

"We should head out." Glimmer stood, pushing the bench back. "We were gonna go kayaking before the meeting, right?"

Adora grinned at this, happy to be done with the conversation. "Totally!" She did have to admit that she felt a bit better after telling Glimmer and Bow. Lighter.

They put away their dishes and wandered out into center camp, pushing and shoving each other lightly, teasing laughs pushing past their lips. Adora jogged forward, turning back to grin widely at her friends.

Her grin faltered as her sightline drifted past the two in front of her and she locked eyes with Catra across the stretch of property. Blue and gold eyes were soft for a moment, her lips parted slightly before they hardened into the steely gaze Adora was quickly becoming accustomed to.

Everything crashed back down onto the blonde's shoulders in an instant. Forcing away a frown, she ripped her gaze away, feeling guilty once more.

***

Despite the growing return of old guilt, Adora forced herself to focus on other, more important things.

Like Glimmer.

She found herself staring appreciatively at how Glimmer's face scrunched up with laughter, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes as she burst out laughing at something Bow had said. Adora licked her lips, squinting at the other girl. She paddled her kayak over and splashed Glimmer who shrieked in response, throwing her hands up in defense. Adora grinned and laughed.

"Race you back to the docks!" She used Glimmer's boat to push off of and started paddling as quickly as she could towards the docks.

"Hey, no fair!" She heard Glimmer cry in outrage.

Bow chimed in a second later. "Wait up Adora!"

Adora paid them no heed and bolted for the docks, grinning the whole way. She, of course, beat them, but Glimmer was a close second. She clambered out of her kayak and raised her fist triumphantly with a smug grin.

Glimmer and Bow climbed out of their boats, the former rolling her eyes at Adora's smug look. "You had a head start," she argued, her lips quirked upwards the slightest bit in amusement.

"You're just a sore loser, Glim," teased Adora.

Glimmer scoffed. "That's rich coming from you."

With a gasp and then a burst of laughter, Adora said, "I'm not a sore loser!"

"Well..." Bow said slowly.

"Bow!"

"What?" Bow cried. "You're not  _ not _ a sore loser." His eyes flicked to Glimmer and they shared an amused look at the exaggerated horror on Adora's face.

Glimmer giggled, linking her arm with the arm Adora had resting on her hip. She leaned up and poked Adora's cheek. "We can be sore losers together."

Adora flushed. Bow laughed. "So does that make me the winner?"

"No!" 

Bow pouted at Adora's response before it brightened into another one of his signature smiles. "Guess we're all losers then."

"Guess so," Glimmer agreed with a sly smile, her arm still looped through Adora's, her body pressed up against the taller girl.

Adora thought she might pass out from the contact. Glimmer was damp from their splashing earlier and warm from the sun shining down brightly on them. Adora felt hot. Hotter than the sun warranted. But she couldn't pull away.

She released her breath when Glimmer pulled away to collect her boat. Forcing herself to move, Adora yanked her boat out of the water and hoisted it onto her broad shoulder, turning to look back at Glimmer who was helping Bow carry his boat in tandem. She wondered what would happen if she kissed Glimmer. Right here and now. The idea sent nervous anticipation rocketing through her chest, like electricity beneath her skin.

She needed to talk to her.

But when?

It wouldn't be hard to get her alone. They always had a couple of hours alone when Bow went off to practise at the archery range. Adora bit her cheek. But what then? She didn't know what she would say.

_ So we should talk about what happened. _

No that was dumb. A lot had happened. And this was weeks ago.

_ Hey so we kissed and we should talk about it. _

God, that's even worse. 

Shaking her head as she put her kayak on the boat rack and headed over to grab Glimmer's, she pushed the thoughts away. She had no clue what she was doing. She could think about this later.

She lifted Glimmer's boat just as another thought occurred to her.

Why hadn't Glimmer brought it up? What if... she didn't want to talk about it. What if she thought it was a mistake. Adora's head spun until she managed to grasp the small bit of rationality she had left before the idea spiralled further.

Glimmer was probably just as... worried, as she was. Yeah, that was it. No point in overthinking it.

***

Yeah, Adora was really bad at not overthinking things.

She tapped her foot anxiously from where she sat beside Glimmer as Micah talked to the group of second-year counsellors about various things that had gone in one ear and out the other for Adora. She wet her lips and glanced around the room.

Catra was here. She sat by herself (Scorpia and Entrapta were 3rd and 4th-year counsellors respectively) as far away from the rest of the second years as she could. She looked bored as she picked at her nails. Adora tore her gaze away from the brunette.

Guilt gnawed at the pit of her stomach as she thought back to her conversation with Bow and Glimmer over breakfast. She ignored it and looked at Glimmer. Just the serene look on the girl's face as she listened to her father speak, completely at ease, a soft smile on her lips and eyes shining, was enough to send butterflies afloat in Adora's stomach. The two gut feelings fought for dominance and Adora hardly heard a word Micah had said when Glimmer knocked their shoulders together playfully, soft smile turning more mischievous, and whispered something in Adora's ear. 

The butterflies won out.

Adora was grateful when the meeting ended and Catra strode out of the room, leaving her one less thing to think about for the time being. She focused in on Glimmer and smiled. Glimmer smiled back.

"Wanna go to A&C while Bow is at the archery range?" Glimmer asked, stretching her arms above her head as she stood, stiff from the long period of sitting.

Adora nodded. She'd go anywhere with her. More butterflies. She shoved them away and allowed Glimmer to drag her by the hand to the arts and crafts building.

The inside was bustling with noise. Another one of Double Trouble's shows, no doubt. People were scattered about, making bracelets and drawing and painting and chatting amongst themselves. Surprisingly, the platform stage was empty and Double Trouble was standing behind the counter, leaning forward on their elbows, listening intently to Scorpia ramble on about something Adora couldn't quite make out over the noise. 

Glimmer pulled Adora to a nearby table that was occupied by Perfuma and Mermista. Adora had nearly forgotten about their entwined fingers and was surprised when Glimmer didn't let go right away.

"Hello, Glimmer!" Perfuma had paused her cross stitch pattern to look up in greeting. "And Adora! How are you guys today?"

The pair plopped down onto the opposite side of the bench. "Pretty good," Glimmer replied.

Adora was starkly aware of Glimmer's hand still in hers between them. She fought off the rising onslaught of butterflies in her stomach once more. She looked up at Perfuma. "Yeah, good, good," she said distractedly. 

Perfuma smiled. "I'm glad. Are you excited to see who your co's are this summer?"

With a slightly smug smile, Glimmer said, "I'm sure Adora and I will get to work together again this summer."

"You're probably right," laughed Perfuma.

Adora just smiled softly. She was only half paying attention to the conversation. The bustle of the arts and crafts building was enough to smother her thoughts so she could think straight for a minute. 

Although the thoughts ruling her mind as of late was anything but, she thought dryly. 

Her quiet amusement was interrupted by the wooden swing doors slamming open as a few new people entered the building.

Adora zeroed in on Catra when she wandered in, eyes darting around the room as she looked for something--or someone. Glimmer's giggles pulled her attention away from the brunette for a moment. She couldn't figure out why Glimmer was laughing, but the sound sent warm tendrils of happiness throughout her body. She focused on how easy it was to be around Glimmer. Everything felt soft and warm, but not without the familiar stubborn snark Adora had come to love in the other girl. Glimmer's eyes met hers again and Adora thought she might melt into a puddle right then and there.

She was roped into the conversation briefly. Something about Sea Hawk setting one of the canoes on fire? She couldn't quite keep up after so many minutes of missed conversation. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, she tuned out again and looked around. Catra was now leaning against the counter near Scorpia, talking to the tall woman and Double Trouble. She was laughing.

Adora looked away before she was caught staring, a blush crawling up her face as a familiar feeling twisted in her stomach. And it wasn't the guilt from earlier.

God, what she'd give to calm her racing thoughts for just one day.

She nudged Glimmer. She needed to move. Do something. Glimmer looked at her. She leaned over and whispered, "I'm gonna go rock climbing. Too restless to sit here all day."

Glimmer nodded. She understood. She scrunched up her nose before saying, "I'll come with you." 

Adora shook her head. "Stay and talk. I need to clear my head."

Pressing her lips together, Glimmer eyed Adora carefully before saying, "Okay. See you at dinner?"

"Obviously," she said with a nod.

Glimmer smiled and Adora stood, excusing herself. She headed for the door, swinging it open. As she left, she felt a pair of eyes on her. 

She would bet Bow her kitchen duties she knew who it was too.

****

It was nearly 3 am when Adora finally gave up on calming her whirlpool of thoughts enough to sleep. 

She slipped down from her bunk as quietly as possible and moved to grab her shoes. Bow was snoring quietly in his bed. Glimmer looked peaceful when she slept. Calm and near expressionless, nothing like how she existed in wakeful hours, full of life and intense emotion. Adora sat on the empty bunk beside Glimmer's to slip her shoes on. She winced when the bed creaked as she stood.

"Mmm," Glimmer hummed, shifting and lifting her head slightly, eyes opening enough to notice Adora pulling on a sweater. "'Dora," she mumbled. "Where are..." she trailed off sleepily.

Adora looked back at her with a soft smile. "Can't sleep. Going for a walk. Go back to sleep, Glim. I'll be back soon."

"You better," Glimmer mumbled before settling back into her bed.

Adora sighed in relief before heading out the door. She walked the familiar path without thinking. Her feet taking her to the familiar place in the forest. Her favourite spot.

Before she knew it she was wandering down the path that branched off the main path, leaves and sticks crunching beneath her running shoes. She made it to the bottom of the hill and headed up the worn trail to her left. 

Focusing on walking and pushing new branches and bushes that had grown since the previous summer along the path, allowed Adora's mind to clear for a moment. She ducked under a fallen branch that was cracked and barely hanging onto its tree. She knew this walk like the back of her hand. 

The destination was her special spot. She had discovered it in her first year at Brightmoon. It was considered off campgrounds, but as long as she could get back, she'd never let that stop her. It was quiet and secluded and let her think when everything became too much to bear. Too many responsibilities and expectations.

Glimmer knew she went somewhere at night, but Adora had never shown her where. Even on the nights when Glimmer went on walks with her. Both to make sure Adora was okay and to get out of her head for once. Those walks were Adora's favourites.

Shaking the thoughts away, Adora pushed through a final blockade of brush and stepped out into a half-moon shaped clearing. The edge of the clearing was a drop. Adora guessed the cliff was about 100 feet. It dropped into a canyon. She could see a small river running through the narrow valley. The other side of the canyon was probably only about 10 feet across from where she stood near the edge. It was about 2 feet lower.

She'd considered jumping across a few times. It wasn't that far. She could probably make the jump.

_ Probably. _

The word stopped her every time. With a sigh, she sat down and dangled her feet off the edge. The rushing water of the stream and the sounds of frogs and insects buzzed around her. It was the same as every night. Not a single other person to be seen or heard for at least a mile.

She checked the time on her watch.  _ 3:48 am. _ She sighed.

If she wanted any sleep at all tonight, she couldn't stay long. The walk had quieted her thoughts though so she supposed it was successful.

Humming softly to herself, Adora gazed out into the forest on the other side of the canyon. The trees were thinner and she could see the same crumbling stone structure she always stared at. It had been a building, but it had fallen to pieces. The stones were white and there was something reflective scattered around the overgrown property. It was probably glass from windows. At least that's what she always assumed. It always shone strangely bright. Like a beacon. She'd taken to calling the stone building The Beacon after drawing that comparison.

What used to be there?

Debating for the second time that night, Adora eyed the gap between the two ledges. She bit her lip. It wouldn't be that hard.

She could just--

_ Snap! _

Adora jumped up and twisted her whole body toward the sound, her heart racing. The brush surrounding the clearing shifted and a lean figure pushed through. Adora heard a (thankfully human) growl as the figure swatted at the branches.

Heart still pounding, Adora opened her mouth to call out, to ask who it was, to demand why they were here, but stopped dead when her stare met a mismatched pair of eyes full of shock.

"Catra?" she sputtered. "What are you doing here?"

The brunette eyed her almost suspiciously. "What are  _ you _ doing here, Adora?"

Adora's brow knit together in confusion. "I was going for a walk. Couldn't sleep." Catra hadn't moved so she added, "How'd you find this place?"

Catra smirked. "I followed the path, idiot."

"Nobody notices this path," Adora replied, crossing her arms.

Catra strode forward, brushing past Adora to look out over the edge. "Then apparently everyone is blind."

Adora snorted. "I liked it better when only I knew about this place."

Catra didn't respond. Adora moved to stand beside her, not looking at the other girl, focusing instead on the glint of moonlight reflecting off the beacon. This was her chance. To talk to Catra. The other girl was right there. All she had to do was say it.

"I'm sorry I left you there with her."

Catra bristled. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she replied sharply, "That's it? I'm sorry isn't going to cut it, Adora."

Catra said her name with such venom that Adora shrunk back before narrowing her eyes. "What do you mean that's it? Catra, I left because our home was horrible. You could've left too. You could've come with me! I tried-"

"You did nothing!" shouted Catra, whipping around to face the other girl. "She always-- _ always-- _ liked you better. You were  _ always _ treated better. Do you even know what happened when you weren't around? When you were at football practise or at some stupid club or when you were off with the better kids at camp?"

Adora flinched. "I wasn't going to just give everything up because you couldn't handle yourself! I was building myself a future. I was building  _ us _ a future. I wanted you to come with me!"

"You promised you wouldn't leave!"

"You refused to come with me!"

"What about what I wanted? What if I didn't want to do what golden child Adora wanted to do? You're so selfish!"

"I wasn't asking you to do what I did. I just asked you to come with me!"

"I didn't want to!" snapped Catra. "I didn't want to leave. You expected me to follow like a blind puppy and got defensive as soon as you weren't right. And then you  _ left _ ."

"I thought you wanted to!"

"Well, you were wrong!"

Adora fell silent, a distraught look on her face.

"You're not as perfect as you think, Adora," Catra said coldly, looking away from the blonde.

"I know I'm not perfect," Adora muttered. Guilt twisted with anger in the pit of her stomach. She just... she needed to make Catra see. "I-"

Catra clenched her jaw. "Save it. Stop-- stop making excuses!"

"I'm not!" Adora snapped. "You don't understand how hard I worked to get here in life. It's not all a game!"

"No matter how hard I worked, I never got treated like you, so why would I put the effort in?"

Adora shot her a scathing look. "You ask me not to pity you, but all you do is wallow in your own."

Catra opened her mouth but no words followed.

Adora shook her head angrily. "You know what? Forget it. I thought maybe we could use this summer to fix things, but you've made it clear you still want nothing to do with me."

Guilt twisted in Adora's chest when panic flashed across Catra's face. "Adora, wait--" she started before her expression hardened and she stopped.

"Don't," Adora said. "You had your chance." She turned and stomped back into the forest.

Her rage cooled to a simmer as she approached her cabin. Just as she reached for the handle, what had happened hit her square in the chest like a ton of bricks. She dropped her hand. She couldn't go back in yet. 

Deciding that all she could do for now was sit on the steps, she collapsed onto the wood.

That was not how she wanted that to go at all. How was she supposed to just... not talk to Catra for the rest of the orientation. For the rest of the summer. They couldn't completely avoid each other. They worked together.

Adora groaned, placing her head in her hands. They were hardly even a week into orientation. Who knew what would happen? They had barely managed this week before they blew up at each other.

She looked at her watch again after noticing that the sky was brightening.  _ 5:18 am. _ Glimmer would be getting up soon probably. 

Adora snickered. 

She was amazed by what that girl would do for hot water. Especially since she could barely be dragged out of bed at 7 am for school every day.

She stood and entered the cabin, pulling her sweater off and tossing it across the room. And kicked her shoes off as quietly as possible before climbing up into her bunk. She collapsed onto the pillow, her thoughts no calmer than when she had left a few hours prior.

She frowned when she heard Glimmer's alarm go off a little while later. She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep until she heard the cabin door swing shut.

She opened her eyes and sighed, rolling onto her back and crossing her arms behind her head. 

What the hell was she supposed to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was big oof. But it's done! And I'm satisfied with it mostly I think lol. I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading. Lemme know what you think in the comments xD


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glimmer wants to know why Adora's acting weird. She asks Catra.

Adora had been acting weird.

Glimmer thought this right as Adora was laughing as Bow explained some terrible pun his dads had told him about their recent ancient ruin excavation. She bit her lip after letting out a short laugh, only half paying attention to the conversation. She was too preoccupied by Adora's weird behaviour. 

Or was it that weird?

She frowned as she continued to pick at her lunch. Maybe she was reading into things too much. Adora had certainly been a little off lately, but nobody else seemed concerned. Even Bow had told her not to worry. Adora was probably just thinking too hard about something she shouldn't. Or she was taking too much on as usual despite it only being a week into orientation.

Glimmer couldn't shake the feeling in her stomach though. She glanced over at Adora who met her eyes and grinned brightly. The smile was warm (it made Glimmer feel warm) but it didn't reach her eyes which were dull with exhaustion. The blonde looked away and continued her conversation with Bow.

Huffing in frustration, Glimmer dropped her fork onto her plate and stood, grabbing her dishes. She headed over to the kitchen window and scraped her food into the garbage, throwing them into the wash bins. She spun around and scanned the crowded dining hall.

If no one else was going to, she was going to figure out why Adora was being weird. And since clearly no one else had been paying enough attention, Glimmer decided to start with the only reason she could think of. 

Catra.

The brunette had been avoiding meals, usually opting to come early or late and never staying long. Ever since campfire. Glimmer pretended not to notice. Why would she care? All they did was throw insults at each other. And Catra was completely infuriating and immature and annoying and irritatingly smooth and unhelpfully  _ flirty _ . And she did it  _ just _ to irritate the other girl. 

Glimmer shook her head, pushing away her irritation. If she wanted to figure out what was going on, she'd have to talk to Catra. And the other girl had failed to show up at all today. Breakfast or lunch. 

Breakfast had been quiet and Glimmer was grateful for the absence of the brunette. But Adora had pushed through the meal with zombie-like motions, clearly exhausted as she nursed a mug of coffee, barely saying a word as she stared off into space. Did she sleep at all?

Glimmer had heard Adora come into the cabin that morning only twenty minutes before her alarm went off. Glancing at Adora from across the dining hall, she had no doubt the other girl hadn't slept. When she looked, tired eyes full of concern met her gaze. Glimmer smiled reassuringly in order to brush off Adora's concern, even if it left her feeling weak in the knees and her face warm. 

Adora pulled her stare away and Glimmer sighed. She crossed her arms, still surveying the dining hall. 

Yeah, something definitely happened. 

Catra not showing up all day. Adora's clear exhaustion and obvious preoccupation with something. It was all Glimmer needed to find herself hastily exiting the dining hall and going to hunt down Catra.

She would never get answers out of Adora. The blonde would never let her help. Especially with anything to do with her past. She just had to take on everything by herself. Glimmer frowned again. She'd talk to Adora once she squeezed some answers out of Catra. Her frown deepened. God, she was voluntarily seeking out Catra.

This was not how her day was supposed to go.

She trudged through a few different parts of camp, keeping an eye out for any sign of dark brown hair or blue and gold eyes. She checked A&C, the swim dock (even though Catra had made it very clear a few days prior, very loudly at breakfast, that she'd rather sleep in a mice-infested cabin than ever voluntarily go swimming much to Glimmer's amusement), the nature trail, and the archery range.

Nothing.

Glimmer groaned. This was taking way too much time and effort. Neither of which she thought Catra deserved from her. 

But her thoughts wandered back to Adora's tired eyes and half-hearted grin. Something had happened and Glimmer was going to figure out what and do something about it even if it killed her. It was for Adora. That was always an easy decision.

She looked around center camp where she had found herself and spotted Scorpia and Entrapta sitting at one of the picnic benches. She jogged over to them.

Scorpia greeted, "Oh hi princess!" with a wave as Glimmer approached. She smiled widely.

Glimmer paused at the nickname. She must have picked it up from Catra. Glimmer forced away a grimace. Although she had to admit it was a whole lot more endearing coming from Scorpia.

She was pulled out of her reverie by Scorpia saying, "What are you up to today?"

Glimmer glanced at Entrapta who met the look with a small grin before focusing back on the project in front of her. She looked at Scorpia, her brow creasing. "I'm actually looking for-" she hesitated, "-uh, Catra."

Scorpia's eyebrows drew together in confusion for a moment before she perked up. "Oh well sure. I think she said she would be," she paused in thought, "I'm sure she said she'd be... oh! Yeah, at the rock climbing wall."

Glimmer nodded. "Awesome. Thanks Scorpia!"

Scorpia bobbed her head. "I gotta warn you though. Catra, uh, wasn't in the best mood this morning. I don't know if... well if you of all people should go bother her today."

Entrapta looked up from her work. "Based on previous interactions, I would vote against that too. She was... noticeably more irritable this morning."

Scorpia nodded her agreement. "You know how Catra can get."

Glimmer pressed her lips together as Entrapta added, "I'm sure it has something to do with her not returning to the cabin last night. Lack of sleep creates irritation and I've observed an increase in avoidance."

"It's important," Glimmer said. "I'm sure we'll survive the interaction." 

"A public spot might lower the chances of an altercation," Entrapta stated.

Glimmer couldn't decide if she was joking or not. Entrapta usually wasn't one to joke though...

She pushed the thoughts away. "I'm gonna head over. I'll see you guys later."

The pair waved Glimmer off and Scorpia resumed her conversation with Entrapta. Glimmer began walking in the direction of the rock climbing wall.

Her thoughts raced as she ran through her conversation with Catra's friends. Catra hadn't slept either? More irritable? Glimmer didn't even think that was possible. The thought amused her. It was getting more and more obvious that Catra was the reason for Adora's strange mood. Glimmer wanted to know why. 

It was a pretty short walk to the rock climbing wall. She quickly spotted Catra. The taller girl was leaning against the pole at the beginning of the line that had the belaying rope threaded through it. She held the thick blue rope in her hand as she watched a first year counsellor do up their harness.

Catra was tying the rope to the first year's harness when Glimmer approached. Glimmer paused, hovering nearby until Catra finished her interaction and sent the first year up on the wall, gripping the rope tightly.

Glimmer nearly jumped when Catra said, "What do you want, Sparkles?"

Crossing her arms, Glimmer said, "Maybe I just want to go for a climb."

Catra snorted. "Sure," she drawled. "That's why you're standing there staring at me instead of putting on a harness." She gestured over to the pile laying on the ground near her feet. "Do you even know how to put it on?"

Glimmer flushed. "Of course I do." She stalked over to the pile and grabbed one. "I was waiting for the other person."

"Whatever."

Glimmer turned away slightly and held up the harness, frowning. Okay, admittedly she had no idea what she was doing. She'd never liked the rock climbing wall. She only liked watching Adora climb up in record time, as many times as the area would allow, leaving a sheen of sweat coating the blonde's muscular arms.

Glimmer's mouth went dry. Whether from nerves or the memory, she couldn't decide.

She fumbled with the straps for a few minutes, trying to get everything into the right places. She had basically finished (given up) when she heard Catra sigh loudly. On instinct, she spun around.

The first year had finished and was taking off their harness to head out and Catra was standing there with a look of boredom and irritation. She took one look at Glimmer and sighed again, this time more angrily. She stepped forward, reaching for the various straps.

Glimmer tensed as Catra's fingers brushed against her stomach, moving straps around until they rested against Glimmer's body in a more proper fashion. She heard Catra mutter something but couldn't figure out what it was. Once satisfied, Catra stepped back and surveyed her work.

"Alright," Catra said, grabbing the blue rope once more. "Any day now, princess."

Glimmer licked her lips as she eyed the wall nervously. She kicked herself for getting roped into this nonsense.

_ Literally _ , she thought as she stepped forward and let Catra knot the rope into her harness. 

Glimmer triple-checked the knot causing Catra to shoot her an irritated look. "What? Don't trust my skills?"

Glimmer glared at her. "Why should I?"

Catra pressed her lips together and didn't reply, just gestured to the wall and tugged the rope taut. 

Glimmer grabbed a hand hold, the highest one she could reach. Her foot found another. She pulled herself up, surprised by how easy it felt with the harness, and placed her other foot higher up. The first half of the wall was quick and easy, but near the middle mark, she found herself struggling to reach some of the further up hand and foot holds.

Stupid short limbs.

"You giving up already?" Catra called from the bottom, giving the rope a tug, sending a sharp vibration up to Glimmer, startling her.

"No!" shouted Glimmer. "Just enjoying the view. What, are your arms tired or something? I thought you could do this all day."

"I can, but I don't have time to put up with you all day," the brunette shouted back. "So hurry it up!"

Glimmer glared at her. She reached up and grabbed another rock. Catra pulled especially hard as she pulled up and sent her flying up another two feet. Glimmer fumbled for another foot and hand hold, huffing in frustration. She looked down. Catra was probably about 10 feet below her. The wall wasn't very big. 

She groaned. This wasn't what she came here to do. Catra looked smug. 

Glimmer grit her teeth and scrambled the rest of the way up the wall, determined to get back down, talk to Catra and then get the hell away from here. Her hand smacked the flat top of the wall and she turned to look back down. "Let me down now!" She was about twelve feet in the air now.

Catra shrugged and began slowly letting the rope go, lowering Glimmer. At the 8 foot mark, the rope came to a jarring stop and Glimmer felt her harness dig into her hips. "What's the deal?"

Catra didn't reply and opened her hands completely, letting the unmoving rope sit in her palms. She wiggled it around a bit, but still it didn't move. She walked a circle around the post and looked up at the top of the wall where the pulley for the rope was. Nothing looked wrong necessarily. But it definitely wasn't moving.

"Catra!"

Catra looked up. Glimmer was glaring down at her. "I think it's stuck," called Catra uselessly. 

Glimmer's eyes widened in horror. Oh God. This could not be happening. 

"Are you serious?" she hissed. 

"Yeah, it happens sometimes," she replied casually. "At least that's what I was told. I don't know how to fix it though."

If Glimmer wasn't currently hanging eight feet above the ground, she would've strangled Catra.

Maybe that was the altercation Entrapta had referred to….

"Well, go get someone who does!"

"I can't just leave you here! What if you fall?"

"What do you care?"

"I care about my job! And unfortunately getting the camp director's kid killed is a fireable offense!"

"I'm not gonna die!"

Catra bristled. "I'm not leaving you dangling here. No matter how stupid you look."

Glimmer clenched her fists at her sides. "Fine! So what now?"

"I guess we just wait for it to move or for someone to come along."

"That's the worst idea I've ever heard."

"Well, I don't know!" Catra exclaimed angrily.

Glimmer crossed her arm. She felt stupid just hanging there. This whole situation was stupid. She glared down at Catra again. The other girl glared right back.

"I can't believe that-"

"What'd you even come here for, Sparkles?" Catra asked, cutting Glimmer off.

"What?"

"Well, you obviously don't come here normally. It's been a week and I've never seen you here without Ad- uh, your friends." She cleared her throat. "So what gives?"

Glimmer sighed. "I came to ask you about Adora." Catra nearly flinched at the name, but it turned into more of a twitchy movement she tried to hide by stretching. Glimmer ignored the movement. "She's been acting weird all week, but today has been the weirdest. Something happened."

"I don't see how it's any of your business if something did happen," snapped Catra.

"I'm making it my business because I care about Adora! Something you clearly can't understand."

"Shut up! It's none of your business."

"That's not the point! I don't care if you're angry, but Adora's upset and I'm not gonna just let her wallow in it."

"Why don't you ask Adora then?"

"I think you know Adora well enough to know that.  _ doesn't _ . work." 

Glimmer heard Catra mutter something, but couldn't make it out from her elevated position. 

"I just want to help Adora," Glimmer called down irritably. 

Catra scoffed. "Adora doesn't accept help."

"Yeah, well, sometimes she just has to," retorted Glimmer.

"If you have to know, we just had an argument. It really wasn't that big of a deal. I don't know why she's getting her panties in a twist over it."

"Because she cares! You hurt her!"

"She hurt  _ me _ !" Catra shouted angrily

"Just stay out of it, Sparkles."

Glimmer grit her teeth.  _ Fine _ . Clearly Catra wasn't planning on being helpful. On any front. 

"Why don't you focus on finding someone to get me the hell down then!"

Catra glared at her but looked around. She noticed another counsellor jogging by and waved them over. The pair chatted for a moment before the counsellor was running back toward center camp.

The remaining time was filled with tense silence. Glimmer hated every moment.

Finally-- _ finally _ \-- Glimmer spotted the counsellor Catra sent running back and her dad was following.

Ten minutes later, Glimmer was back on the ground and she quickly vowed she was never getting off it again. Her dad hovered over her before she brushed him off, insisting she was fine and would  _ really _ like to go find Bow and Adora. 

Micah finally relented, checking in briefly with Catra, apologizing that no one had shown her how to fix the sticky pulley before leaving her in charge. Catra also brushed off his attention and said she had somewhere to be.

Glimmer glared after the other girl as she strode away, swaying her hips slightly. Glimmer tore her eyes away, infuriated.

She stomped back to center camp to find Bow and Adora, mind full of useless revenge fantasies and ways to get Adora to talk to her.

This summer was off to a  _ great _ start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This chapter was a but shorter but I was excited to get it out so here we go. Lemme know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tension.
> 
> that's the only description you get today.

Glimmer shivered from the early morning air as she trekked from her cabin to the shower house. The sun had barely peeked over the horizon, the first sunbeams of the day reflected in all shades of orange and pink off of the lake below the elevated campgrounds. She was clothed in just her shower swimsuit (a blue and purple two-piece) and had a fluffy purple towel wrapped around herself. Her pink flip flops smacked the ground behind her as she walked.

This was prime shower time. She'd learned that as soon as she hit her early teens. And utilizing some of the privilege that came with being the only child of the camp directors, she'd made these early morning escapades her daily habit. The water was at its warmest after a whole night of disuse, plus she was afforded enough privacy to take a proper swimsuit-less shower. That luxury alone was worth the early hour.

She ambled toward the showers, enjoying the fresh air. It felt so good to be back at camp. This was her home. She'd spent every summer (and some springs, falls and winters--as many as her mother allowed) here since she was born. She breathed in deeply, listening for the bird song that echoed so clearly throughout the surrounding forest at this time of day. She hummed harmoniously with the resounding chirps as she approached the building.

She pushed the wooden door open. It swung shut behind her, the usual bang getting swallowed up by the sound of a running shower and a melodic voice.

Someone was singing!

Their voice echoed throughout the small shower house, bouncing off the walls. The running water was steady and the singing continued uninterrupted by Glimmer's arrival.

It sounded amazing.

And strangely familiar...

Glimmer stopped dead in her tracks. She licked her lips and glanced around. Nobody was ever here this early. She'd been doing this for years and had never run into a single person. So it had to be someone new. That only left...

Heat stung her cheeks as she realized why the voice sounded familiar.

Catra.

Glimmer pushed down a dry laugh, the last thing she was thinking about was the humour in this situation. She was anything but amused.

Of all times. Of all places.

Her gaze drifted over the bench running the length of the narrow room. Clothes were scattered along it, closer to the end. Glimmer felt the heat crawl further up her face at the implication of the scattered clothing. A black towel hung on one of the hooks near the very last shower.

Catra's voiced continued to drift out of the last shower alongside thick clouds of steam. Glimmer shot an annoyed glare in the direction of her morning's disturbance. Catra better not have used all the hot water.

With a huff, Glimmer moved further into the room, hanging up her towel and dropping her shower caddy on the bench. She chose the shower at the opposite end of the row from Catra. She made no effort to be quiet, but the other girl's melodic voice continued to ring in her ears. She wondered if Catra had even noticed her arrival.

If she had, she didn't seem to care. Glimmer scrunched up her face. That didn't sound like Catra. She scoffed, forcing away the thought. What did she know about Catra? Nothing. Nothing except that she was annoying as hell and didn't know when to shut her damn mouth. With another frustrated huff in Catra's direction, Glimmer quickly undressed (she wasn't planning on letting this ruin her usual morning routine, even if she nearly fell over in her hurry to hide in the shower stall) and stepped into her shower. Based on the continued singing coming from the other girl, Glimmer warranted that her arrival had still gone unnoticed.

Her guess was correct because the second she turned her shower on, Catra's voice cut off abruptly.

Glimmer was hit with a pang of disappointment at the loss of the other girl's voice before she shook the feeling off in annoyance. Good riddance honestly. Maybe now she could enjoy her morning normally. 

But even as she listened to Catra turn off the water, dry off far too quickly, struggle into her clothes, and stalk out of the building, the door banging shut loudly for the second time in the past ten minutes, she couldn't shake the weird feeling the non-encounter had given her. She sighed, relieved to finally be alone, ignoring the itchy feeling in her chest and blaming the rising flush on her neck and cheeks on the burning water cascading down her body.

She leaned against the stall wall slightly, her thoughts drifting back to Catra's voice. It had been warm and drawn out. She couldn't quite place the song she was singing. She briefly wondered what else Catra could do that she wasn't privy to. Did Adora know she could sing? Did she used to sing for Adora when they spent their summers at The Fright Zone? 

No no no... nope. She shook the thoughts away. She wasn't going to think about that. She rubbed conditioner into her hair a little too aggressively. She didn't like Catra. Especially after the disaster the week before. Catra was cocky and aggravating and...

Hot.

_ Nope. _ Glimmer turned the water to cold, gasping when it hit her skin. Instantly regretting that decision, she turned the tap back.

It stayed cold.

She turned it further. 

Still cold.

Glimmer groaned. Catra had used all the hot water leaving her barely even ten minutes of it. She angrily rinsed the conditioner out of her hair and turned the water off, not bothering with the rest of her shower. She dried off and quickly dressed into the clothes she had packed. She gathered her things, ran a hand through her wet pink hair and stomped out of the shower house.

She burst into the cabin she shared with Adora and Bow, knowing they were always awake by the time she got back. What she failed to remember is that she was usually gone for a lot longer.

Adora jumped awake. "What? What's going on?" She raised her hands up to fight off any threats, looking rather ridiculous in her oversized Camp Brightmoon sweater and her half-aware stance. 

Bow grumbled to himself from his bunk. "Just Glimmer. Go back t'sleep."

Glimmer cringed. "Sorry," she muttered. "I didn't realize you weren't awake."

Adora nodded sleepily, rubbing her eyes. She looked over the smaller girl. "You okay? You seem... you burst in here really aggressively."

Glimmer took a deep breath. "Yeah, Adora, I'm fine," she said in a clipped tone. 

Adora looked at her with concern, her blue eyes drilling into Glimmer inquisitively.

Glimmer bit the inside of her cheek. "The showers were just cold. Someone must've used all the hot water." The explanation was lame, but she had to say something before Adora's gaze picked her apart like always. The last thing Glimmer wanted to explain is that her morning was ruined by Catra('s amazing singing and the thought of her intense, two-shaded stare and the thought of her cloth-- _ nope, not today _ ).

Adora didn't look convinced but dropped it. "Well I'm up now." She looked over at Bow who was mumbling something in his sleep, face pushed heavily against his pillow which was collecting a small puddle of drool. "And Bow's definitely not. Wanna go for a walk once I'm dressed?"

Glimmer nodded.

Maybe some time with Adora would make her feel better. It usually did.

***

"I just can't believe they can just act like nothing happened!" Glimmer exclaimed, crossing her arms across her chest.

Bow lined up his shot, pulling back the bowstring. The tip of his tongue was sticking out the corner of his mouth in concentration. He released the arrow.

Bullseye.

He turned toward Glimmer. "I'll admit that Adora's been acting weird, but are you sure you're not reading into it too far?" He paused, smirking. "I mean you do _ like _ Ad-"

Glimmer jumped forward and slapped a hand across Bow's mouth. "Shut up," she hissed. She released his face. "I don't need the whole camp knowing that!"

Bow laughed. "Sorry," he said, lining up another shot. Release. Bullseye. "I don't see why you don't just tell her."

Glimmer grit her teeth. "I'm going to! I just- she's clearly upset about something."

"And what makes you think you have anything to do with it?"

"I don't!" Glimmer said defensively. "But I know Catra does and I'm gonna figure out what."

Bow sighed. "Maybe you should just talk to Adora. About everything."

Glimmer pouted. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Just talk to her. She's our best friend, Glimmer, it's not gonna be as hard as you think."

"I guess."

A few minutes lapsed while Glimmer thought it all over. Bow shot a few more arrows. 

"But what about Catra?"

"What about her?" exasperated Bow. "You don't like her. Adora and her clearly aren't friends. Why does that even matter?"

Glimmer shrugged. "She's just... so... irritating. I-" Bow shot her a knowing look. "Fine you're right. She doesn't matter. Adora matters."

Bow grinned. "So when are you gonna talk to her?"

"I don't know," Glimmer replied, wringing her hands in front of her, "sometime this week I guess."

Nodding excitedly, Bow put down the bow he was using. "Yes! It'll be great, Glim. Don't worry."

Glimmer bobbed her head even as nerves began snaking their way into her stomach. The whole situation still wasn't sitting right with her.

She couldn't shake the feeling even as she bid Bow goodbye until dinner and wandered back over to the rock climbing walk to meet up with Adora.

Her thoughts wandered back to that morning. A mix of bitterness and curiosity rose in her chest. Glimmer had not been prepared to learn something so vulnerable and normal about Catra and the feelings the new information stirred were the last thing Glimmer even wanted to think about. 

Those were irrelevant. She wasn't even going to give them the time of day.

She approached the wall, glaring lightly at its towering shape, thoughts of being stuck with only Catra for company leaving an icky feeling in her stomach. On the wall though was Adora in all her sweaty glory, nearly to the top. A couple of counsellors were counting on the ground and cheered when Adora slammed her hand down on the top and then rappelled back down the wall.

When her feet touched the ground, she quickly untied the rope and shrugged off her harness. She grinned brightly at Glimmer, the expression less heavy than a few days prior.

Maybe she should just leave it alone. Adora seemed better. Ish.

Glimmer shook off the thought. Adora had been barely eating, sleeping and filling her whole day with back to back activities. Nothing was better. Just busy.

"Hey Glim," greeted Adora. "I'm finished here if you wanna go do something. That is why you're here, right?"

Glimmer laughed. "Of course that's why I'm here. You think after last week, I'm planning on going for another climb?"

Adora snickered and began leading the way back to center camp. "Obviously not."

Glimmer fell into step beside the blonde. "So how's today been? I haven't seen you since breakfast basically."

Adora shrugged and brushed off Glimmer's concern. "Today's been good. Just keeping busy. Only four days left until campers show up."

"I wonder if we'll find out our co's on Friday," mused Glimmer. She elbowed Adora playfully. "You better not ditch me."

"Do I have much of a choice?" Adora teased.

"No, of course not," Glimmer shot back, skipping ahead a bit.

She looked up and noticed the sky darkening. Ignoring the gathering clouds, she continued their trek back to center camp. 

Adora looked deep in thought, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her shorts and her blue eyes gazing forward with a faraway look. Glimmer smiled softly.

"Whatcha thinking about?"

Adora bit her lip. "Can we talk?" She paused and added, "Nothing bad."

Glimmer's heart began racing. If this was the conversation she thought it was, she didn't think she was prepared, her thoughts still running wildly with images of the thick steam and melodic voice. Adora grabbed her hand and almost instantly the images were washed over with soft touches, rough singing, stupid jokes,  _ warm skin, soft lips _ ...

She was pulled over to the rocks near the dining hall. She registered that she had nodded and that's why they were moving. She sat down on one of the big rocks. The area was surrounded by trees so they were hidden away from prying ears and eyes, but the sky was visible above them.

"So... what's up?"

Glimmer watched Adora look her over, blue eyes soft after Glimmer had spoken. Adora hesitated.

Licking her lips, Glimmer squeezed the hand that was still tangled in Adora's loosely. Adora looked up and made eye contact.

Glimmer's stomach was doing somersaults and her heart still felt like it would beat straight out of her chest. She mustered a soft smile at the other girl and felt her heart jump into her throat when Adora smiled back.

Adora sucked on her bottom lip, thinking over what she was going to say. At least that's what Glimmer gathered from the pensive look on her face. She shuffled nervously on her feet and Glimmer fidgeted with the hem of her tank top from her place sitting on the rock. 

"Okay," Adora finally started. "I wanted to talk about..." she stopped again.

Glimmer leaned forward, waiting with nervous anticipation for Adora to speak. The longer she thought about it, the more she realized she had no idea what Adora was going to say. 

Adora shifted awkwardly again and opened her mouth. Right as she did, a giant raindrop fell right in her eye. She winced.

Suddenly it was raining. Hard.

Glimmer was ready to fight the universe.

With a shriek as the rain began falling by the bucketful, the two girls ran for the nearest building: the dining hall. It wasn't far, but they were still soaked to the bone by the time they pushed through the swinging doors and collapsed against each other on one of the benches.

Despite the rain ruining their barely started conversation, Glimmer looked at Adora and dissolved into giggles. They were both dipping onto the dining hall floor and bench. Adora's hair was stuck to her cheeks and her clothes were clinging to her body. Glimmer was too busy laughing to pay attention to that fact.

Adora laughed too, her shoulders shaking, until they both had tears streaming down their faces, mingling with the rain. They could hear the rain still pounding on the roof.

When they both finally caught their breath they looked at each other with wide grins.

"So what did you want to talk about?" asked Glimmer breathlessly, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Well, I wanted to talk about u-" 

Her voice cut off abruptly, her eyes widening a fraction. Glimmer turned to look behind her where Adora's gaze had landed.

Catra stood a few feet away, holding the wash apron she had just taken off.  _ Dish duty _ , Glimmer thought briefly. 

Glimmer was definitely going to fight the universe.

"Hey Adora," she said simply. "Sparkles."

Glimmer felt her face heat up. Stupid nickname. 

Adora cleared her throat. "Uh, hey Catra. What're you doing here?"

"Dishes," Catra and Glimmer said simultaneously. Glimmer's face turned even redder when she realized she had spoken.

"The apron," she explained lamely.

Catra shot her a weird look. Adora glanced between them.

"It's raining," Adora said suddenly.

Glimmer couldn't stand the tension, and absentmindedly wrapped her arms around herself. 

"Yeah I figured," deadpanned Catra. "You're both soaked. And dripping all over the floor I just cleaned." 

"Just wait till dinner," Glimmer chimed in.

"Good thing I'm not on clean up duty tonight then."

Adora shifted awkwardly. "Well, we're just gonna stay here until the rain stops."

Catra nodded. "Do whatever you want. I don't run the place."

"Are you leaving?" Glimmer asked, silently praying the answer would be yes so her and Adora could finally have their conversation.

"And go out there?" laughed Catra. "In your dreams, princess."

Glimmer didn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. She did feel Adora tense up beside her. 

Catra seemed to pick up on the tense mood and said, "I'm just gonna wait it out in the kitchen."

She turned to leave but was stopped by the camp cook. "Sorry, my dear. Kitchen's closed up till dinner time prep." She bustled past Catra, her grey hair wild around her head. "You'll have to wait in here if you want to wait out the rain."

Glimmer could practically feel Catra's irritation and it only added to her own. 

The brunette girl plopped herself down at a different table a short distance away from the other two as the older lady rushed out into the rain. Glimmer glanced at Adora who looked uncomfortable but was still trying to shoot Glimmer a reassuring smile.

Catra was sitting with her back against the table and her legs resting on the opposing bench of the table Glimmer and Adora were seated at. Her gaze was averted and her arms were crossed.

Glimmer could feel her irritation growing by the minute as she looked between Catra and Adora. They both looked uncomfortable with each other's presence, but Catra was better at hiding it (or maybe she just knew Adora better). She could see the brunette's shoulders tense when she looked at her despite their gazes not meeting.

Adora kept glancing toward Catra. The air was thick with tension and words said that Glimmer still couldn't coax out of either party.

This couldn't go on for the whole summer.

Glimmer crossed her arms and set her jaw in determination. Clearly they all got stuck here for a reason (she refused to believe that this was a coincidence--stupid universe) and something needed to give.

Enough of a something for them to function this summer.

"Are you guys ever going to talk?" she ventured before she could talk herself out of it.

"I thought I said stay out of it!" spat Catra, gaze snapping toward the pink-haired girl.

Adora spun on Catra. "You don't get to say that,  _ Catra _ ."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I-I don't-" sputtered Adora. "You don't get to talk to her like that, okay?"

Catra jumped up and pointed accusingly at Glimmer. The accused girl shrunk back slightly, glaring at the taller girl. "Oh but Sparkles over here can't say anything wrong?" Adora winced at the harsh tone. Catra ignored it. "She can butt into  _ our _ business and you won't say anything. I didn't realize she was  _ that _ much better than me!"

"That's not even what this is about and you know it!"

Glimmer bit the inside of her cheek nervously. Maybe bringing it up had been a bad idea... she hoped no one was in the kitchen still.

Catra's voice was cold when she spoke. "Then what's it about?" 

Adora threw her hands up in the air. "That's the problem! I don't know! I know you're angry. With me. And I know you're taking it out on everyone including me." She stood and faced Catra, who was still standing, arms crossed with a snarl hanging off her lips.

Catra laughed bitterly. "God, you're such an idiot." She shook her head. "It's always about you."

"You're literally making this about you!" Glimmer cut in. "Adora was ready to be friends again and you didn't even let her try."

"She's the one who left in the first place!"

Glimmer paused at this. She didn't know much of anything about Adora's life before living in Brightmoon and attending this camp. The basics, sure, but she hated talking about it so she rarely did. She even knew a bit about Catra. Not enough clearly.

"You didn't come with me!" shouted Adora. The rain still pounding on the roof drowned out the echo in the dining hall.

"I didn't want to!"

Adora's voice shook as she said, "Why not?"

Glimmer sucked in a nervous breath as the room fell silent. Despite the quiet, Glimmer could help but feel as if she set off a bomb. Adora looked stricken and Catra's eyes were wide. 

"I-" Catra started, the word catching in her throat. "I- You can't-"

"Why didn't you want to?" Adora choked out. "I may have left--and I'm  _ sorry _ \-- but I wasn't the only one who did the abandoning. Why did you stay?" she demanded, her hands shaking.

Glimmer was still sitting and reached out to grab Adora's shaking hand. She was reeling from the argument. She hadn't known Adora cared so much about what happened.

No wonder she's been acting weird.

"I needed-" Catra shuddered, but steeled herself, grasping desperately for any of her usual bravadoes. "I had to do something on my own. I had to get out on my own."

"I wasn't stopping you!"

"Yes, you were!"

Adora paled. It took everything in Glimmer not to pull the blonde down into a hug and tell Catra to get out in some much ruder terms. But she had to let them figure this out.

Worse before it gets better. Glimmer held back an annoyed sigh.

Catra practically snarled her next words. "Everything I did, you did better. Every punishment you got, I got a worse one. We did everything together and you got away with so much more and you  _ never _ did anything more than get in the way."

"I was trying to protect you!"

"Well you didn't do a very good job, did you?" 

"I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what else you want me to say!"

Catra scoffed. "There's nothing to say."

"Then why do you continue to act like this?" Adora exclaimed. "I'm trying to fix things!"

"You can't fix this."

"Why?"

"I don't want you to."

A beat of silence.

"That's bullshit," Glimmer laughed. "You're so  _ full of it _ . You just refuse to stop pitying yourself for your own decisions. Adora asked you to come, you didn't come because you wanted to make your own way in life, didn't work out very well for your friendship,  _ get over it. _ "

"What?" Catra sputtered.

"Get. Over. It," Glimmer repeated. "Honestly, you were practically kids when this happened. It's been what? Four years?" Adora nodded in agreement. Glimmer crossed her arms over her chest. "You did your thing on your own. You got out on your own and grew the hell up so act like it. You're here now."

"You can't just tell me to act my age when you've been acting like a child all week!" defended Catra.

"Yeah, well, I am," Glimmer countered. "And I'm not the one treating my friends badly because of my inability to get over my own issues."

"You've been treating me bad all week!"

Glimmer noticed the slightest hint of panic cross Catra's face as she said the words. She let the smug feeling that rose in her chest take over her expression. "I didn't realize we were friends."

Catra's face turned red, with anger or embarrassment Glimmer couldn't decide. Probably both. "We're not friends!" shrieked Catra.

Glimmer just shot her a smug grin. Catra fumed. Adora took the lull as an opportunity to speak.

"Look, I really am sorry, Catra. I shouldn't have expected you to just follow me. I think..." she trailed off, but held her hand up to stop Catra from interrupting. "I think the whole situation could've been handled better. I know why you're upset and I know you know why I'm upset, but can we please just move past this?"

Catra didn't respond, her brow creasing as she considered Adora's words.

"We're kinda stuck together all summer," Glimmer added. "Especially if we keep running into each other like this."

Adora frowned. "I just... I missed you, Catra."

Catra's breath hitched, as if the words had struck her in the stomach. She looked at Adora. Glimmer could see the usual fire in her eyes mixed with an unmistakable softness. 

After another beat of silence, Catra sighed, "Fine." She averted her gaze and blushed. "But this doesn't mean I like you."

Adora smiled brighter than Glimmer had ever seen.

***

Glimmer popped her head up above the railing of Adora's bunk. She had heard the other girl shuffling around and wanted to check-in.

It had been a long day.

Adora smiled at her in the semi-darkness. It was darker than most nights, the moonlight being covered by the threatening clouds of the still ongoing storm. Glimmer smiled back. Adora opened up the blanket she had wrapped around her and beckoned to Glimmer. Glimmer crawled up into the top bunk, cuddling into the blanket next to Adora.

They didn't talk right away, just finding solace in each other's company and warmth. The only sounds were of their own breath, Bow's light snoring and the pounding rain on the roof of their cabin.

"Do you feel better?" asked Glimmer softly. 

She felt Adora nod before the blonde spoke. "I think. I want it to be better. I want her to be better."

"I know."

"Thanks, Glim."

"Of course."  _ Anything.  _

Adora's fingers found Glimmer's and she intertwined them, squeezing lightly. Warmth burst in Glimmer's chest. She was perfectly content to just sit here with Adora, basking in the closeness of their shared warmth, but she couldn't help but wonder what Adora was going to say before the rain started.

"Hey, did you still want to talk?"

Adora turned her head to look at her, their nose practically touching in their proximity. They both flushed.

"I mean," Adora started. "I do."

"But?"

"Today was..."

"A lot?"

"I'm sorry."

Glimmer squeezed Adora's hand. "It's okay. We can talk soon."

"Are you sure?"

Glimmer nodded, her nose brushing Adora's. "We have all summer."

Adora bit her lip. "All summer."

Glimmer tilted her head and kissed Adora's cheek. "All summer and more."

Cuddling further into Adora's side, Glimmer heard the blonde sigh happily.

_ All summer. _

Glimmer smiled and closed her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading as usual! There were a lot of comments since I last posted so thank you so much for all the love. You guys are the best!
> 
> Also, excuse me while I just casually plug my favourite glitradora fics and writers because they deserve all the love.
> 
> Closer Than I Hoped by inkubusmb   
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/22378303
> 
> Soulpedia (includes Catmint, Soulbound and A River Away because I couldn't choose and I love them all ahhh)  
> https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823419
> 
> Triple Delivery by Xormak  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/25626541
> 
> Thread Bare by Mang0Queen  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/25812943
> 
> I know we're all starved for content so you may have already read these BUT REGARDLESS, read them or read them again because they're amazing <3 <3 <3
> 
> That's all from me today. New chapter length record though! Hope you enjoyed!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tbh everyone is just confused now

Catra spent most of the next day and a half avoiding Adora (and Glimmer--not that she'd admit she had any reason to avoid the other girl) so she could think. Clear her head. Get her feelings sorted out. The whole deal.

And boy, she had a lot to think about.

How had she gone from thinking she'd never see or speak to Adora again to seeing  _ and _ speaking to her and even  _ forgiving _ her? And had she forgiven her? Or had she been cornered and talked her way out of it? It's not like she didn't want Adora back in her life. She just-

How did this happen so fast?

But orientation was already over. Today was the last day. And she'd spent the last day and a half wandering and avoiding as many people as she could. She just couldn't wrap her head around  _ anything _ that had happened in the past two weeks and even the idea of Adora's shy and hopeful smile or Glimmer's snarky glares that morphed into timid curiosity when she thought Catra wasn't looking weren't helping matters.

She'd gone back to the cliffside and found it empty. Twice. It's not like out of all the hours of the day, she expected it to be likely that she ran into Adora and she told herself it was good she didn't, but disappointment tugged at her heart. She shoved the feeling away and continued exploring the area.

She hadn't found much. Adora had really found the coolest spot in that area. She'd squinted across the edge to the other side, debating whether the risk of falling while jumping across was worth it. The nagging feeling that Adora debated the same thing ever time she came here sat at the back of her mind. She'd decided that risking it alone wasn't worth the possible consequences.

That day she went exploring down the only other path she'd found leading off campgrounds. It had led to a tall ledge with plenty of handholds. Damming the consequences of falling, she'd scrambled up the wall and was now sitting with her legs dangling off the edge. It was quite the view. And close enough to camp that she could see the tops of all the buildings and the docks down by the water.

It was about midday. The sun was shining down brightly on the camp and surrounding forest. She could see clouds gathering in the distance. Maybe it would storm again. Seemed to be a common occurrence here.

It was so easy to just be on her own. She didn't have to think about other people and their feelings and about the things she's said and done and about how messed up the whole situation with Adora was. 

Glimmer was a whole other story now.

She groaned and rubbed a hand down her face. "How did this happen?" she asked the winds, her voice being carried away.

Upon receiving no obvious sign from the heavens, she groaned again and decided to head back to camp. Her stomach growled.

"Guess that's your sign," she muttered as she stood and looked down over the edge. Maybe she should find another way down.

She sighed and turned to find a new way down. Luckily it didn't take long and she began a leisurely pace back to camp, still sorting through her thoughts. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jean shorts and blew her bangs out of her eyes.

She passed by the rock climbing wall, the sight of it reminding her of Glimmer and how stupid(ly adorable) she'd looked dangling from the harness. Annoyance rose in her chest. Why did Glimmer have to ruin her favourite part of camp not even a week in. Now it was all she could think about when she was belaying or climbing or apparently going anywhere near it.

She huffed. Stupid pink hair and purple eyes and annoying quips and weird shower times.

Could she call it weird if she was also there at that time?

She hadn't even known who had come in that morning until she actually got out of the shower. The purple towel and blue and purple  _ sparkly _ bathing suit had been a dead giveaway (the shower caddy that had GLIMMER written on the side had maybe possibly helped but that was beside the point). She'd forgotten how painfully hard and annoying it was to put on jean shorts when you're not entirely dry until that moment. Never again. She could just deal with the cold water in the middle of the day. There was no way she was risking  _ that _ again.

Shaking her head free of that train of thought, she focused on her walk back to center camp. She figured it was almost lunch time. Her stomach growled again. She picked up the pace.

Center camp was bustling with people, even more so than usually before lunch. People were gathering in a variety of groups and everyone was talking excitedly amongst themselves. Catra scrunched her nose in confusion. Her eyes darted around, trying to figure out the source of everyone's chatter.

She zeroed in on the announcement board. A small group was gathered around it.

The cabins had been posted. She'd completely forgotten.

Co-counsellors.

Her brow furrowed as she looked around for the familiar blonde hair and the glaring pink hair. Nowhere in sight. Shrugging it off, she headed for the board.

The group of first-years parted as she approached. She scanned the sheet of paper. She found her name. She was in Erelandia. And her co-counsellors were...

She groaned and dropped her forehead against the paper.

Glimmer  _ and _ Adora.

The chatter of the first-years behind her died when they saw her response. Catra could feel them staring at her.

And it was then that she heard a very familiar voice.

"Oh hey Catra!"

Adora sidled up beside her. She lifted her head and sent her a smile that was all sarcasm. Adora seemed to ignore that and smiled back.

"Adora, what cabin are we in?" Glimmer's voice came from behind them.

Catra's head hurt. "Erelandia."

"Oh really?" Adora asked. She ran her finger along the paper and paused when her finger hit Catra's name in between her name and Glimmer's. " _ Oh _ . Oh hey cool we're all co-counsellors!"

Catra finally turned away from the board, having every intention to leave, but stopped in her tracks when she saw Glimmer's eyes widen in horror. She burst out laughing.

She just knew Adora had the most confused look on her face without even looking as loud bursts of laughter poured out from her. Glimmer's horror had shifted to disdain as she watched Catra with narrowed eyes.

"What's so funny?" Glimmer demanded.

Catra tried to catch her breath enough to speak. She barely managed it and just said, "Your reaction, Sparkles," before dissolving into laughter again.

"What about it?" Glimmer said shrilly.

This time Catra managed something a little more coherent. "Don't worry. I had the same one." She snickered. "Guess we're stuck together."

Watching Glimmer fume added years to Catra's life.

Adora had turned back around and said, "We're already in Erelandia so after Bow moves all his stuff out, you can move yours."

"Fine with me, I guess," Catra replied. The mix of fury and annoyance coating Glimmer's face was almost enough to make Catra skip lunch to pack up her things  _ just _ to annoy her further.  _ Almost _ . Her stomach growled once more. "But if you'll excuse me, its lunch time."

She heard Adora start talking excitedly to Glimmer about the placement and she could practically hear Glimmer roll her eyes as Catra walked away.

Okay so the placement wasn't... _ ideal _ . But if Glimmer was as horrified as she was by the prospect. Well...

This could be fun.

***

_ Fun _ may have been a bold word choice.

Catra had spent an hour after lunch packing up her stuff. Again. After a whole meal of relishing in Glimmer's annoyance, her own annoyance had leaked through when she realized she had to  _ pack _ . She instantly felt the regret of unpacking all her things so meticulously wash over her.

But now it was ready to be unpacked once more. And for the last time.

She hoped.

Adora was making her bed when Catra dragged her stuff into the cabin. She looked up when Catra dropped her bags onto the ground loudly. She pointed to the top bunk second to the corner. "That's your bed. It was that one top or bottom and I figured you still liked the top bunk."

Catra nodded slowly.

Adora smiled. "Heights." The short explanation made Catra's head feel weird.

God, she hated all these feelings that were popping up.

She tucked the box of her stuff up onto her bunk and shoved her suitcase under the bed. She looked around. "No shelves?" she wondered aloud.

Adora shook her head. "Nope. It sucks, but some of the cabins don't have them installed yet."

Catra scowled. She pulled her bedsheets out of the box and made the bed, throwing her pillow down on top. She dropped and kicked her duffel bag under the bed as well before climbing up into her bunk. She pushed the box down to the top corner of her bed where there was a small gap between the end of the mattress and the wall.

Falling back onto her mattress, she released a loud sigh. She heard Adora shuffling around below her, the blonde occasionally talking to herself under her breath as she moved. Catra closed her eyes and let her mind drift along with the sounds that still sounded so foreign even though she could remember the habits and patterns from when they were kids clear as day.

Her nose scrunched when suddenly the sounds stopped. She cracked open an eye and came face to face with Adora. Her eyes widened and Adora jumped back off the ledge of the bottom bunk she had been balanced on.

"Sorry sorry!" exclaimed Adora. "I thought you had fallen asleep."

Catra grimaced. "That sounds kinda creepy, you know."

Adora's brow pinched together before her jaw dropped comically. "Not like that!"

"What were you doing then?" Catra asked, a small smirk pulling at her lips as she crossed her arms.

"I was-I just-" stammered Adora, her face flushing deeply. "We haven't actually talked since... I mean- We're stuck together now so I wanted to just... talk."

"About?"

"Nothing specific," Adora said. "We could just play catch up. It's been... a while."

Her tone made Catra's breath hitch in her throat. She opened her mouth to speak but before she could utter a word the cabin door swung open and Glimmer walked in. 

The pink-haired girl headed right to her bunk, but not without shooting Catra an annoyed look. Catra blinked at the confusion shining through the annoyance. She was probably wondering why Catra was sitting in her bunk with her mouth hanging open dumbly. At the thought, Catra closed her mouth and her gaze moved from Glimmer back to Adora.

Adora had moved from the spot she had been standing to follow Glimmer. "You okay, Glim?"

Glimmer nodded. "Just need to find something for my dad."

Adora hummed in acknowledgement before her gaze drifted to meet Catra's. Catra felt her cheeks warm as soon as Adora's curious expression was on her once more.

"Hey, do you guys wanna do something tonight?" asked Adora suddenly. 

Glimmer looked up from her backpack. "Like us? The three of us?"

"Yeah, if we're going to be counselling together the whole summer, don't you think we should learn to like each other?"

Catra pursed her lips, averting her eyes. She could feel Glimmer's eyes on her. Silence permeated the cabin for a few minutes. She could practically feel Glimmer and Adora arguing silently. The thought caused nostalgia to bloom in her chest, choking her.

Glimmer made an indignant sound and Catra just knew Adora's blue eyes were wide and pleading as she said, "Come on, Glim."

A beat of silence before Glimmer sighed. "Fiiine. But if you expect me to like her, you're a lost cause, Adora."

Catra snorted. "Right back at you, Sparkles."

When Catra finally looked back, Adora's pleased grin sent butterflies rocketing through her body.

Stupid feelings.

***

Catra spend the rest of the day zoning out in the various last minute meetings before the campers arrived. She figured if Adora was her co than she'd have everything she could possibly need to know all stuffed behind Adora's massive forehead (it had to be that big for a reason other than ego). And with Glimmer as her other co, anything they didn't have they'd get pretty damn quick.

This reassurance left her plenty of time to force down the torrent of (self-described) icky feelings that kept popping up every time Adora smiled at her and every time she caught Glimmer staring at her. And the fact that the two of them couldn't keep their hands off each other whether they be leaning against each other or attempting to be discreet about their intertwined fingers didn't help matters. 

The worst part though was Bow's knowing grins.

What did he know? What was there to even know? Literally nothing.

It made her want to scream with frustration. She clenched her fists at her sides and focused back on Micah talking at the front of the dining hall. She saw Adora turn her head to look at her, confusion and a little bit of concern swimming in her eyes. Catra brushed her off and relaxed as much as she could.

Her thoughts wandered to what would happen that night.

Both her and Glimmer had left the activity planning to Adora after reluctantly agreeing to her proposition. Neither wanted to be any more involved than they had to be. 

Hopefully the night would be short and uneventful.

Or maybe...

Yeah, that was probably too much to ask.

Catra pushed away the thoughts, scrunching up her nose. She could feel someone staring at her again. She forced herself to focus on the bulletin board behind Micah's head. Looking at Micah only made her think of the girl currently drilling holes in the side of her head.

The heat burning her neck forced her to glance sideways. Her mismatched eyes met Glimmer's curious stare. The other girl's eyes widened and she quickly looked away. Catra's lips parted as she found herself staring at the side of Glimmer's head. She noticed a crimson flush crawling up the pink-haired girl's neck and the sight made her stomach squirm in a way she couldn't quite identify. She tore her gaze away and crossed her arms across her chest.

This was gonna be a long night.

***

Adora let herself be pulled out of the dining hall by Glimmer as soon as the last meeting concluded. Glimmer's hand was soft in her's and she took a few seconds extra to let her gaze drift over Glimmer's face which was currently covered with an adorable pout. She felt warm and light-headed from the extended contact and the ideas running through her head for their night out that night.

Well, their night out with Catra.

The thought still made her stomach wobble. With anticipation or apprehension she hadn't decided yet.

It wasn't a big deal. Just a fun night out before they had the responsibility of campers. A chance to make a plan. A plan that didn't involve Catra and Glimmer tearing each other apart by day three. Or day one.

It would be totally fine. Fun, even.

She had noticed Catra slink back off into the woods the opposite way to their cabin as they left the meeting. Adora resisted the urge to shout after her and remind her about that night. Or for her to join them right then. But Glimmer's insistent pull on her arm pushed the idea away. 

Catra would be on time. She knew Adora.

Or at least she used to. 

Glimmer still hadn't let go of her hand. And Adora's arm was no longer at risk of being pulled off. They were walking at a more leisurely pace. Glimmer swung their entwined hands slightly between them. Adora enjoyed the feeling, pushing away any confusion Catra had created in her head and sinking into the warmth Glimmer created.

"So what's the big plan for tonight?" came Glimmer's voice, curiosity leaking into the question despite her best efforts to seem nonchalant.

Adora smirked. "It's a surprise."

"Oh come on," Glimmer pouted. "Not even a hint?"

Adora shook her head. "Nope," she replied, popping the 'p' loudly and swinging their hands between them widely.

Glimmer huffed. "You're no fun."

"You'll find out in a couple hours." Adora grinned. "It's really not a big thing. Normal camp activities. Just hanging around, having fun, talking, roasting--"

"Hey!" Glimmer exclaimed. "That was totally a hint."

Adora shrugged. "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't."

Glimmer bumped her shoulder into Adora playfully, barely moving away after she did so. "That's no fair," she giggled.

Adora felt her face flush when she felt Glimmer's skin against her own. "You'll just have to wait, Glim." Her teasing fell almost flat when her voice caught in her throat. Her eyes widened when Glimmer just giggled again and pressed closer.

This girl would be the death of her.

They had finally reached the cabin steps. Adora reluctantly pulled her hand away from Glimmer's and looked at her. "I have planning to do," she said with a shy smile.

"Oh really?" teased Glimmer. She leaned against the railing.

Adora nodded. "Wouldn't want to bore you two. You might end up killing each other for entertainment and then I'd be stuck with a bunch of kids alone tomorrow."

Glimmer laughed and it sent Adora's heart into overdrive. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her shorts and looked at the ground. She knew her face was probably bright red.

She looked up and Glimmer's fingers were only inches away from her face. Glimmer's head was tilted slightly, some of her pink hair falling into her face from the action. She practically jumped when she realized Adora was looking at her again and yanked her hand back.

Adora felt a twinge of disappointment, but she smiled at the other girl. "Meet you back here in an hour?"

Glimmer nodded. She licked her lips and Adora had to rip her gaze away so she could leave. She watched Glimmer go up the steps and into the cabin. She only turned to leave once the door had shut behind the pink-haired girl.

She needed a game plan before these girls killed her.

***

Glimmer paced the cabin, anxiety pulling at her stomach. Adora would be back soon to kick off whatever she had planned for them that night. Catra was still nowhere to be seen. Glimmer hoped she wouldn't show up until after Adora came back. She didn't want to deal with  _ that _ right now. 

Whatever that was.

She rubbed a hand down her face and groaned. They hadn't even spent one single night together yet and she was already ready to call it quits. Catra made things too complicated. It was hard enough to focus on talking to Adora without the brunette girl wiggling her way into her thought process every second of every day. But with? She swore it was impossible.

She paused her pacing. She wondered how many times Adora had traced this exact spot with her own pacing. She and Bow had always teased the blonde about it.

And now here she was.

She groaned again and collapsed onto her bed. She wished Adora would hurry up. At least she'd sort of have a distraction.

Anything to ignore her own thoughts.

The cabin door swung open. Glimmer perked up. Catra stepped in and Glimmer felt herself deflate once more.

She'd spoken too soon.

"Hey Sparkles," the brunette drawled. "Where's Adora?"

Glimmer shrugged. "She said she would be back soon."

With a nod, Catra climbed up into the empty top bunk that was across from Glimmer's bottom bunk. She slid under the frame bar, letting her legs dangle and resting her chin on her arms which rested on the bar. "Do you know what we're doing tonight?"

"Adora wouldn't tell me." She crossed her arms. "She said it was a surprise."

Catra snorted. "Always so dramatic. There can't be  _ that _ much to do here."

Glimmer laughed before she could stop herself. "Adora just likes-"

"-planning things."

Glimmer stomach fluttered. "Yeah. That."

Catra smirked. "Well, she better hurry up. I'm not waiting all night."

As if the words summoned her, Adora burst through the cabin door. A wide grin was spread across her face. "You guys ready?" 

Catra stretched. Glimmer barely managed to look away from movement as Catra's shirt rode up her stomach, barely visible past the bar of the bunk bed. Catra looked at Adora. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Glim?"

Glimmer looked up and met Adora's gaze. She nodded frantically. "Yeah of course!" She stood. "Do we need anything?"

"Sweater maybe?" suggested Adora.

Glimmer nodded.

Once they were all ready, Adora led them out of the cabin, her grin still lighting up her whole face.

"So where are we going?" asked Catra.

"Any guesses?"

"You said roasting earlier and all I've gotten from that is a campfire." Glimmer kicked a rock down the path as she walked, looking at the back of Adora's head. "So one of the more private fire pits?"

Adora hummed. "Sort of? It's kind of my own little spot."

Catra perked up at these words. "Wait are you-"

Adora cut her off by saying, "Catra knows this place." Glimmer felt a twinge of jealousy when the pair shared a knowing look. 

"Don't worry, princess. My involvement was purely accidental." Catra poked Glimmer's cheek playfully before realizing what she had done and yanking her hand away, forcing her gaze to the ground as her cheeks turned red.

Catra's embarrassment made Glimmer feel a little better.

Adora looked contemplative as she watched the interaction from over her shoulder, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. She seemed to brush the feeling off before continuing, "I found this place my first year here. It's, uh, where I go when I can't sleep at night. It was just my spot. Until Catra ran into me last week. And I figured that if she gets to know, you should too."

Adora smiled tentatively at Glimmer. With a deep breath, Glimmer smiled back. "Okay."

Adora's smile brightened. Glimmer felt butterflies erupt in her stomach again.

The walk wasn't short, but Glimmer lost track of time when Adora and Catra started talking, their voices echoing through the forest, teasing and light. It made Glimmer feel warm.

Catra talked a bit about her year of counselling at the Fright Zone. Adora's reaction ranged from horrified to knowing. Glimmer felt her curiosity growing as their banter fell into a familiarity she wasn't used to.

"What was camp like when you guys went together?" Glimmer asked as she pushed some brush out of her way. "It doesn't sound much like here."

Adora laughed. "God no. I was in for such a shock when I came here."

"Fright Zone was..." Catra trailed off.

"Frightening?" Adora supplied jokingly.

"Sometimes," laughed Catra. "But it had its moments. We had fun, didn't we?"

Adora climbed up a ledge and reached down to help Glimmer. Glimmer grabbed her outstretched hand as Adora said, "We did. Remember when we filled Hordak's desk with paint?"

"We had to clean the bathrooms for two weeks after that!" Catra pulled herself up the ledge. "Remember the fireworks Lonnie and I set off?"

"You guys nearly set our cabin on fire! How could I forget that?"

"The bleach in Ms Weaver's shampoo?"

"She was ready to skin you alive. I don't know how you're still alive today with all the shit you pulled with her."

"Hey! Just because I always took the blame doesn't mean I was the only one who deserved it!"

Adora sobered a bit at the exclamation. "Yeah, well, we're both lucky to be here now, right?"

Catra softened. "Yeah."

Glimmer's eyes darted between the two. Questions burned in her mind but she didn't want to upset either of them. There was a lull in their conversation. Glimmer opened her mouth, but shut it again a moment later. What could she even say? She felt so out of the loop. Annoyance clawed at her chest as she continued to walk.

A few minutes later, they pushed into a clearing. Adora grinned. "We're here!"

Glimmer looked around in awe. The clearing was on the edge of a cliffside. A narrow canyon was past the edge. The other side was close. And the view was incredible!

The sun was nearly set and they had a great view of the stars dotting the newly darkened sky, some brighter than others. There were hundreds. Probably thousands.

A small fire pit had been constructed near the ledge and embers were burning brightly in the bottom. There was a stack of wood near the edge of the forest. There were some blankets and more snacks than should have been left alone in the forest at night, but Glimmer was completely okay with ignoring that for the night.

"This place is so cool!" she exclaimed.

Adora grinned. "It's my favourite place. Here come look at this!"

Glimmer and Catra glanced at each other and followed the blonde to the edge of the cliff. Adora pointed across. "See that? I call it The Beacon. It looks like an old building or something. The broken glass around it glows when the moon hits it right. Like a beacon." She looked so proud of her naming of the place that Glimmer wanted to kiss her right there. She settled for quietly linking their pinkies together.

She looked over the edge. She heard Catra hum. "It's not that far."

"I always think that too."

Glimmer sniffed. "Have you seriously both considered jumping to the other side?"

"Maaaybeeee." Adora grinned.

Glimmer shook her head with a smile. She leaned forward a bit to get a closer look. Her foot slipped and suddenly she felt weightless. She nearly screamed but suddenly an arm was wrapped around her waist and a hand was pulling her back up. She blinked and registered Catra pressed up against her, arm still around her waist, and Adora gripping her hand tightly.

Catra seemed to realize too and she jumped back. "Jesus, Sparkles. Be more careful."

Glimmer sighed from the loss of warmth, but was quickly distracted by Adora pulling her closer and grabbing her face. "Are you okay?" she asked as she frantically checked Glimmer. 

Glimmer nodded, her mouth dry. A new wave of butterflies sent her reeling. Her heart was pounding. She didn't know what from.

"-cess, Sparkles,  _ Glimmer! _ " 

Glimmer blinked and looked over at Catra. "Huh?"

"Oh good, you  _ can _ respond," Catra snarked.

Adora still looked concerned.

Glimmer squeezed Adora's hand. "I'm okay. Sorry. I just slipped. Can we-"

"Yes, let's get this fire going," Catra interrupted. "I'm freezing!"

"It's not even cold."

"Shut it, Sparkles."

Glimmer wasn't sure if she wanted to scream or puke, but she knew the feeling wasn't going away anytime soon. At least she had Adora's hand still in hers. The ghost of Catra's arm wrapped around her made her whole body tingle, but Adora made her feel warm. 

She sighed. It wasn't even day one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This took a bit longer because I was away for a while, but I was struck with some hella good inspiration today so you finally get a new chapter! It's also my longest (page wise) chapter yet I'm pretty sure. So that's cool.
> 
> Anyway, school is starting real soon so I have no idea how my publishing schedule will be affected but I wont forget about y'all.
> 
> Thanks for all the love and support <3 (and almost 100 kudos :'-)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Water

Excited chatter filled the air surrounding Catra who stood, arms crossed, staring down the narrow road that the buses filled with screaming campers would be driving up at any moment. The voices of her fellow counsellors blended together and the wave of noise made Catra want to cover her ears in spite of her own bubbling excitement for the official start of camp.

Part of her hoped that the arrival of the campers and the increase in activity would allow her to push aside whatever was going on with her and Adora and Glimmer.

_ Wouldn't that be nice? _

But as her thoughts drifted back to the activities and feelings from the night before, she knew there would be no pushing it aside. It was already too messy and the knot in her stomach wasn't going to untie anytime soon.

After a relatively calm (aside from Glimmer's near tumble off the cliffside that Adora pretended not to worry and fret about for the rest of the night and that Catra pretended hadn't happened even as her arm itched with tingles from the short contact with Glimmer's body the incident had induced) and normal (aside from Adora's obvious need to play peacekeeper among them and overcompensating to please the other two with her activity—although, maybe that's what made the night feel normal), the girls stomped out the makeshift firepit and started the trek back to camp.

They decided to go for a late-night swim.

Er, Adora and Glimmer decided.

Catra stood impatiently on the dock as the other two stripped to their underclothes and jumped into the lake, purposely splashing Catra as they did. They both surfaced giggling and splashing each other. Catra ignored the stutter in her heart every time Adora's laughter made its way to her ears and looked down on the pair with an arched brow.

They just laughed some more.

Adora backpaddled toward the dock and pulled herself up enough to rest her crossed arms on the edge, eyeing Catra. "You're sure we can't convince you to come in?"

Glimmer spun in the water and used as much of her momentum as possible to send another wave of water at Catra. Catra jumped back with a yelp. Glimmer grinned, pleased with her successful splashing attempt. "Yeah Catra," Glimmer teased. "The water's great."

"You know damn well I'm not getting in there!"

Glimmer smirked and Catra knew instantly she was up to something. The recognition startled her and she averted her gaze only to have to attention pulled back again when Adora shouted as she was yanked off the edge of the dock by Glimmer wrapping her arms around her waist and pushing off the dock with her feet. The blonde flailed as she hit the water once more. Catra snickered.

Catra had watched them mess around in the water for a while longer, quietly wondering if she'd ever seen Adora so relaxed in her life. Creases made from years of seriousness and worry and anxiety seemed to smooth out in moments whenever Glimmer laughed or Catra made some stupid quip.

The cacophony of voices suddenly washed over Catra again as she shook the memory away to glance at Adora. She still looked more relaxed than Catra ever remembered but the lines and creases had pinched certain parts of her face even as she talked excitedly with Glimmer and Bow.

The rumble of engines filled the air as the first bus turned the corner to make its way down the narrow road. Catra tore her eyes away from the blonde standing beside her.

Right. Campers.

The next hour was chaos. Children were running around and screaming and counsellors were trying desperately to keep everything organized. Catra glanced over the group of eleven and twelve-year-old girls they had managed to gather that would be in their cabin.

"Boys wait don't-" she heard Bow exclaim loudly, his voice rising rapidly in pitch.

She looked over and saw him trying to wrangle a group of what looked like youngest boys, eyes wide as one of them nearly fell out of a tree he'd managed to climb while Bow and Sea Hawk weren't looking.

A good reminder to thank Micah for not giving them a youngest cabin later.

Adora and Glimmer were talking. She'd missed most of it. The only talking Catra had done in the past hour was answering questions and telling kids where their counsellors were. She felt Adora nudge her gently and looked over.

"Come on, let's all head back to the cabin and get settled," the blonde announced to the group of campers. Catra appreciated being pulled back into the loop.

There were eight girls total, Catra counted. Most of them seemed to know each other from what she could tell. Or maybe not. Maybe they were just being kids. Adora was already talking a mile a minute to one of the girls, asking about their school year and what they were most excited for at camp that year and everything in between. Glimmer was looking on shyly, a faint blush on her cheeks.

Catra's cheeks stung at the sight and she turned her attention to one of the campers. She was shorter than some of the other girls and had short blue-black hair. It looked more blue in the sun. Her brow was pinched as she dragged her suitcase along.

Debating whether or not she should say something, Catra nonchalantly fell into step beside the girl. She looked back at her co-counsellors leading the group. One more glance at Glimmer's shy lovesick stare at Adora and Adora's stupid goofy grin and forcing away the heat crawling up her neck, Catra decided she didn't have much to lose.

"Hey, what's your name?"

The girl glanced up at her in confusion. "Me?"

Catra nodded.

The girl's nose scrunched up. "Frosta."

"Catra."

"Cool."

Catra's brow pinched. She sounded like an idiot. What was she supposed to say now? Adora made it look so easy. She pushed back a scowl. Glimmer would never let her hear the end of it if she couldn't hold a simple conversation with a  _ child _ .

"You excited for camp this summer?"

Frosta looked at Catra again, looking almost surprised Catra was still talking. "Yeah, I guess. Camp is always fun."

"What's your favourite part?"

"Swimming."

Catra shuddered. "Not for me. I like dry ground."

Frosta snorted. "Are you a lifeguard?"

"Barely."

Frosta shot her a quizzical look.

"I got it, but it's only for absolute emergencies," Catra explained. "Definitely not to watch a bunch of kids nearly drown each other for 6 hours a day. That's Adora's job." She jabbed her thumb towards Adora who was still chatting happily with a few other campers.

Frosta laughed and Catra mentally patted herself on the back.  _ Laughing kid: 1. Crying kid: 0. _

"So you're new right?"

Catra nodded slowly, wondering where the question was going.

"Did you come from the Fright Zone?"

_ Ah _ .

"Yeah, I did. Why?"

Frosta shrugged. "What's the deal with that place? Seemed kinda messed up."

Anger flared in Catra's chest and she opened her mouth to reply before remembering she was talking to a kid. A kid at a new camp. A kid who wasn't exactly  _ wrong _ .

"Where'd you hear about it?"

"It was all over the news."

"You watch the news? You're like ten."

"I'm twelve."

"Still."

Frosta shot her an annoyed look and Catra just smirked. "Are you gonna tell me what happened or not?" demanded the girl with a curious expression.

Catra scowled. "Why're you so interested?"

Frosta shrugged again. "I'm just curious. When I say it was on the news I mean it was  _ everywhere _ ."

"I have no clue, kid. And even if I did, I probably wouldn't tell a twelve-year-old."

"Rude."

"Hardly."

Frosta seemed to think about it for a minute before saying, "Did you know Adora already?"

_ Damn kids and their questions _ .

"Yeah, why?"

"I met Adora when she was in counsellor training and she said she was from Fright Zone. Didn't seem like a big place so I figured."

"Oh."

Catra let the subject drop and stared ahead. The group had almost reached the cabin. Adora and Glimmer began directing the kids into the cabin and talking about health logs and areas and various other house(cabin?)keeping duties they needed to take care of. Their words bounced easily off each other and Catra found herself staring.

Adora's eyes met hers and the blonde smiled brightly at Catra, tilting her head slightly. Catra could feel Glimmer staring at both of them even as her voice continued to drift over the excited campers.

"You're blushing," deadpanned Frosta.

It took all of Catra's willpower not to tell the twelve-year-old to shut up.

***

The campers were a better distraction than Catra wanted to admit. 

Even if she still caught herself looking at Glimmer too long. Or had to pull back her hand from Adora's when they were standing next to each other. Or found her cheeks stinging when either of them laughed. Or—

"You're staring again." 

One camper in particular was a great distraction.

"Shut up, Frosta."

"You can't tell your twelve-year-old camper to shut up. It's unprofessional." 

Catra groaned. "Then shut your mouth."

Frosta smirked. "So which one is making you redder than a tomato?"

"What?" Catra sputtered, her blush crawling all the way up her face. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Frosta raised an eyebrow at the older girl. "Uh-huh." 

  
  


Catra scowled. "Go hang out with the other campers."

Frosta stuck her tongue out but obliged, climbing down from Catra's bunk. Catra watched her wander over to a group of girls, say something, frown, and then crawl into her own bunk, pulling a book out of her bag. The sight left Catra frowning. 

"Hey, Catra."

The brunette nearly hit her head on the roof of the cabin at the sound of Adora's voice. Adora was standing on the bottom rung of the ladder leading up to Catra's bed with a goofy grin on her face.

"You okay?"

"Yep! Just thinking about, uh," Catra scrambled for words, "campfire."

Adora's brow furrowed, but she seemed to decide on ignoring Catra's weird response. "Wanna come to get lunch stuff with me?" We were thinking of taking the kids across the lake to the other dock to swim and eat lunch."

"Sparkles not wanna go?" 

"Glim's having fun with the girls."

Catra glanced over to see Glimmer sitting on a bed surrounded by a couple of campers, chatting happily as she combed through a girl's hair. Catra's stomach did a flip and she tore her gaze away.

"Yeah sure let's go."

Adora hopped off the ladder to let Catra climb down. She waved to Glimmer as they left and then they were on their way.

Their cabin was one of the furthest away from the dining hall so the walk was long enough to be awkward. Catra immediately regretted agreeing to it. It was getting later in the day, but it was just as warm as always. They sure would be having a late lunch.

"So I saw you talking to Frosta," Adora ventured.

Catra hummed. "Hm? Oh yeah. Figured I should talk to at least one of the campers if I wanna keep my job."

Adora snorted. "Sure yeah, that's the only reason."

"Duh, what else would it be?"

"Don't pretend I don't know about your soft spot for kids."

"They're preteens!" exclaimed Catra with a laugh. "The worst of their kind."

" _ Their kind? _ Are we still talking about kids?" teased Adora.

Catra shoved her. "You know what I mean!"

Adora laughed.

Catra rolled her eyes. "So what's this other dock you mentioned?"

"Its owned by the boat rental place across the lake but they let the camp use it sometimes. It's just quieter and a good place to swim," explained Adora as they walked. "The kids always look forward to the days they get to go. And we managed to pull some strings with Glim's dad to get a timeslot today."

"Perks of being the camp princess, I suppose."

Adora scoffed. "She hates that you know."

"Hates what?"

"The nicknames."

Now it was Catra who scoffed. "Oh so she talks about me now, does she?" Her stomach did another flip at the thought and she shoved the feeling away angrily.

Adora shot her a look.

Catra crossed her arms, fingers digging into her skin. "Everyone gets nicknames, she should get used to it."

"I never got a nickname," said Adora, her tone half teasing, half gentle.

"Yeah, you did, dummy," smirked Catra. "Interchangeable with idiot." 

"Those are insults, not nicknames!" Adora argued indignantly.

Catra shrugged. "Same difference since Sparkles is apparently so wound up by hers."

Shaking her head, Adora bumped her shouldering Catra's. Catra stiffened but didn't say anything. They had finally reached the dining hall. Adora pushed open the door, holding it open for Catra.

"So what's for lunch?" asked Catra.

"I dunno. There's probably sandwiches made and granola bars and juice boxes."

Catra nodded and headed for the kitchen. Her thoughts trailed to their afternoon plan. The dock was probably cool even if she wasn't swimming. Lots to look at, she thought as she glanced at Adora, before immediately shoving that thought far,  _ far _ away.

It probably wouldn't take long to get there. It was just across the lake. Suddenly a terrible thought occurred to her as she turned the previous thought over in her head.

_ Across the lake. _

"Wait, how do we get to the dock?"

"Canoes," Adora said absent-mindedly as she opened one of the large fridges in search of their lunch.

Catra groaned.

***

"Come on, Catra," Adora said, her voice bordering on pleading. "It'll be fine."

Adora was plotting against her. That was the only explanation. 

Catra crossed her arms. "You know how I feel about boats! And about who's  _ driving them. _ "

"Oh don't be such a baby," Glimmer snarked. "I'm not gonna tip the boat." 

"You say that now."

"Catra please," Adora asked, lightly touching Catra's arm. "You can go with me on the way back."

Catra's arm tingled and she sighed. "Fine," she grumbled.

Cautiously, she climbed into the front of the boat, settled onto the cross-hatched seat and crossed her arms grumpily. Her hands shot out to grip the sides when the boat wobbled as Glimmer climbed into the back. She felt her stomach wobble along with the boat. When they were both settled, Glimmer pushed off the dock and began paddling. Catra stayed put, still gripping the sides of the boat tightly.

"Did you not bring a paddle?"

Catra shook her head. "I'd rather focus on not puking, but thanks," she shot back, her churning stomach taking more bite out of the reply than she would've liked.

Glimmer frowned. "If it's that bad, why are you coming?"

"It's fine," Catra insisted. "It's just been a while since I last rode in a boat, nevermind with someone new sterning. It'll go away in a minute."

"If you say so."

They fell quiet and Catra could feel Glimmer staring at her while she oriented herself. A few minutes passed and the sick feeling slowly started to subside. Her grip loosened and she sat up a bit more.

"Better?"

"Didn't realize you cared," teased Catra, feeling much better.

"I don't!" exclaimed Glimmer indignantly.

Catra turned to confirm her suspicion that Glimmer's face was flushed crimson, grinning when she found it to be true. "Then why did you ask?"

Glimmer's nose scrunched up. "Pretend I didn't."

"Whatever you want, Sparkles."

Catra could feel someone staring at her again and it wasn't Glimmer. Glimmer had averted her gaze with a huff and Catra had yet to turn back around. When she did, she spotted Adora looking at her. The blonde shot her a thumbs up and she stuck her tongue out in response. 

The sound of a whirring engine neared them. Catra looked around and spotted a motorboat shooting down the length of the lake, way too fast and way too close to their group of boats.

"What the hell," Catra said, eyes narrowing. "They got way too close."

Before Glimmer could answer, a huge wave from the motorboat rocked them. Catra heard a splash followed by a quiet curse. She turned to look at Glimmer.

"I dropped my paddle," stated Glimmer.

Catra spotted it a few meters away, floating aimlessly farther away from them. Her eyes widened. "How??" she asked incredulously.

Glimmer flushed. "The wave, uh. Knocked it out of my hand, sorta." 

"Again, how??"

"Shut up. This is why you're supposed to have a paddle." 

"Oh  _ I'm _ sorry, I thought you had this handled."

Glimmer glared at her. "Lemme just-"

She leaned over the edge of the boat, hand paddling them as close to the paddle as she could. Catra's stomach lurched as the boat rocked. "Hey, wait-"

"Almost got it..."

The boat lurched harder as Glimmer stretched out to reach the runaway paddle.

"Sparkles, the boat is gonna-"

"Got it!"

They both screamed as the boat flipped, tossing them haphazardly into the water.

Catra surfaced seconds later, spitting out water. "I'm gonna kill you."

Glimmer laughed nervously, her face bright red.

***

Catra was sulking and she knew it.

But she felt justified as she sat dripping wet on the dock, a towel wrapped around her shoulders, knees tucked up against her chest, watching Adora and Glimmer play Marco Polo with the kids.

She couldn't believe she had let Adora convince her to get in the boat when  _ she knew _ that something like that would happen. Leave it to Glimmer to tip the boat with her in it. She huffed. Stupid water.

She'd always hated the water. Ever since she was little. She'd never really known why though. Not until the Fright Zone got shut down and she severed the last of her ties to...  _ that woman _ . She shuddered. One nervous breakdown and a little bit of therapy later, she finally figured it out. And now just the thought of being underwater made her stomach churn.

Boats, on the other hand, she could usually deal with. Well enough to get through what was required of her as a counsellor. But sometimes it caught up to her. 

She felt someone sit down beside her. She looked over and noticed Frosta settling onto the wooden dock. The girl was nearly dry from being in the water but her hair was dripping still.

"I think I figured it out."

"What?"

"Which one you're always staring at." 

_ This kid was asking for it. _

"Oh yeah and which one is that?"

"Both of them obviously."

Catra pushed the girl off the dock and into the water with an indignant sound.

Frosta surfaced and just grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely the last chapter before school and I have no idea when the next is gonna be up because of said school, but I've started the next chapter. That's something lol. I hope you liked this chapter! I had fun with it :-)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a shift in the tide and game planning goes more smoothly than they ever thought possible.

It was another early morning for Glimmer.

And she was exhausted. She half-considered turning off her alarm and going back to sleep until breakfast. But after being dunked in the lake by her own stupidity yesterday… she could use a hot shower.

Her normal shower routine had become slightly more difficult in light of campers joining them in the cabin, but she'd made do. She slipped quietly out of her bunk, sliding her feet into her flip flops and grabbing her bag and towel. A quick glance around the cabin let her know Adora and all the campers were sound asleep. Catra's bed was empty.

Not thinking much of it, Glimmer headed for the door. The other girl was probably wandering. The day before had been weird and Glimmer had a feeling it was sitting worse in Catra's stomach than it was in hers. And it certainly hadn't sat nicely considering how long it took for her to fall asleep the night before.

The way Catra had brushed off what little concern Glimmer could muster into words made her think there was more to it than Catra wanted her to know. Which only made her want to know more. When she finally decided to ask Adora, her curiosity getting the better of her, the blonde just shrugged and said, "Catra's never liked water. Since we were kids. There's never really been a reason." Her averted gaze said otherwise. Adora was a terrible liar.

But it really was none of Glimmer's business. She knew that. She should probably just let it go. Move on with her life. They had to get through a whole summer together and Glimmer knew better than to let her own curiosity cause more problems than they already had with each other.

Glimmer stepped out onto the cabin's porch, turning to shut the door as quietly as possible behind her. Catra clearly didn't want to talk about it. And she was fine with that. She didn't need to care. She  _ didn't _ care. She-

A warm breeze passed over her as her gaze landed on Catra lounging lazily on the porch steps. She looked up at Glimmer, her relaxed expression shifting into something harder. Glimmer could almost see Catra's walls rebuild themselves. Frustration simmered under her own skin.

"Hey Sparkles," drawled Catra, looking back out to the forest. The sun was barely peeking through the thick cloud cover. More rain probably. "Showers?"

Glimmer blinked. "Yeah. Showers."

Catra hummed.

"Did-" Glimmer began before stopping. This was getting awkward way too quickly. 

Catra looked back at Glimmer, an eyebrow arched questionably.

Figuring there was nothing else to do to make this any better, Glimmer continued, "Did you get any sleep last night?"

Catra shrugged. "Few minutes here and there maybe."

Glimmer blanched. "How are you not dying right now? I'm exhausted and I got at least a couple hours." 

"I don't know. You get used to it I guess."

Glimmer pressed her lips together in a thin line. "That's ridiculous."

Catra snorted. "You're ridiculous."

"I'm not the one saying that you get used to  _ not sleeping _ ."

"Yeah but you are standing here wasting your precious shower time talking to someone you insist you don't like."

Glimmer huffed. "You're sprawled across the steps."

Catra's smirk was infuriating. "I thought you would take the opportunity to step on me."

Crimson blush flooded Glimmer's face and neck. "I-" she started but found her voice catching in her throat.

Catra hummed again this time with a smug grin pulling at her lips.

Glimmer clenched her jaw. "To trample you maybe," she said through her teeth.

Catra laughed.

Glimmer found herself relaxing at the sound while her brain screamed at her to feel the opposite way. She felt stuck in place as Catra looked at her again with the same smug and curious stare.

"Well, I'm gonna go now," Glimmer said slowly.

A strange look crossed Catra's face for a moment. In the second it took for her to smooth her features back over into a cool smugness, Glimmer desperately wished she knew what the other girl was thinking. Maybe then they could figure out… 

Glimmer was at a loss with whatever was going on. One moment they were at each other's throats brandishing insults and the next they were… whatever was going on here.

And Adora only made the whole thing harder.

The growing familiarity that felt both new and old from her outside perspective between Catra and Adora left Glimmer with what felt like a hurricane of butterflies in her stomach. The intensity of the feeling left her feeling sick.

The rational part of her brain screamed at her to sort this out before she exploded. In what way, she wasn't sure yet. The emotional part of her brain wanted to continue this childish rivalry until something gave. She shoved both parts away and tried to focus.

"Hey, you okay?" Catra was saying, the smallest hint of concern crinkling the edges of her eyes.

"What?" Glimmer asked.

"You said you were leaving and then you totally spaced out."

Glimmer felt her face get hot again. "Oh."

Catra shot her a quizzical look. "You sure it's a good idea for you to go by yourself right now? Did you hit your head or something yesterday?"

Glimmer couldn't decide if she was joking or not. "Are you looking for an invitation?" was all she could muster in reply.

Catra's brow furrowed. "Are you offering?"

Glimmer shrugged.

Catra chewed her bottom lip as she considered and after a moment, she said, "I'll grab my stuff, hang on."

She stood and pushed past Glimmer, disappearing into the cabin.

Glimmer was positive she was going to implode at any second. This was too much. How the hell did this happen?

Before she could answer the question, Catra had returned, towel and shower bag in hand. Glimmer's heart was racing and all she wanted was to disappear. Anything to get out of this situation. 

"Coming, princess?

Catra was waiting at the bottom of the steps, tapping her foot impatiently. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and Glimmer could see her black bathing suit top peeking out from underneath her tank top. Mismatched eyes were shining expectantly.

Glimmer managed to nod. Catra headed down the path. Glimmer's body seemed to finally catch up to her mind as she scrambled as gracefully as she could after the other girl.

Falling into step with the taller girl's quick pace was easier said than done. Catra seemed to notice Glimmer's struggle and slowed down. Glimmer wanted to shove the gratefulness rising in her chest as far down as possible, but instead found it bubbling past the surface.

"Catra?"

Catra hummed in response, not looking at the other girl.

"About yesterday," Glimmer found herself saying far too quickly, the words hurdling past her better judgment, "I should have been more careful. I knew that you were uncomfortable and I let my own feelings get in the way. I guess I'm just trying to say I'm sorry." 

Shock was splayed across Catra's face and Glimmer knew her own face was probably bright red. She averted her gaze, curling into herself.

Catra blinked. "Uh, thanks." She rubbed the back of her neck, a red flush creeping up underneath her hand. "I'm sorry for acting like such a bitch," she laughed nervously.

Glimmer snickered. "Does that mean you're gonna stop?"

"Pshh, in your dreams, Sparkles," Catra replied. "I only meant yesterday obviously."

"Obviously."

Catra glanced at her watch. "Alright hurry up. Wake up call is in 45 minutes."

"You wasted all my shower time with your inability to shut up," Glimmer huffed.

"Says the one who spaced out for 10 minutes."

"It wasn't 10 minutes!" exclaimed Glimmer. "Wait it wasn't actually, right?"

Catra snorted. "Of course not."

Glimmer flushed.

"I can't believe you wanted me to stop when it's  _ this  _ easy to make fun of you."

"Shut up!"

"Nope."

"Just wait until I tell Adora how rude you are," teased Glimmer. She felt better. Sorta. This wasn't that bad. Totally not weird at all.

"Adora is  _ fully _ aware," Catra shot back.

Glimmer rolled her eyes.

They reached the showers and headed inside. They didn't have much time and both quickly showered. At opposite ends of the shower house. 

The awkward air had returned by the time they were walking back to the cabin. They were both quiet, but Glimmer could feel the usual tension subside. An improvement, at least.

Upon reaching the steps, they could hear the bustle of the campers waking up and getting ready to go to breakfast. Adora's voice drifted out to them. The sound made Glimmer feel warm.

Wetting her lips, Glimmer turned to Catra. "So I was thinking that if you ever wanted to shower with some actual hot water, it'd be fine if you tagged along in the morning when I go."

Glimmer's heart was racing again. Catra mulled over the offer.

"Yeah, I'll probably take you up on that. Cold showers suck."

A laugh escaped Glimmer. "I know right. I don't know how Adora does it."

Catra shrugged with a laugh.

Glimmer thought she might die at the sound but instead headed into the cabin to say good morning to Adora.

***

"A game?"

Micah nodded. Adora's brow pinched together and she glanced between Catra and Glimmer. Glimmer looked intrigued by the idea while Catra looked bored.

"Wait, so we get to plan one of the evening programs?" Glimmer asked, eyes wide with excitement.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" said Micah with an amused smirk. The slight upturn of his lips reminded Adora of Glimmer. Specifically when she wanted to do something mischievous.

Adora nodded slowly. "Okay plan a game... planning... yeah we can do that. How long do we have?"

"Tomorrow night is when you'll need to be ready."

"That's plenty of time!" Glimmer exclaimed. "Right, Adora?" 

"I'm here too you know Sparkles."

Glimmer shot Catra a quick glare. It was softer than usual. Catra just scoffed. Micah glanced between them suspiciously and Adora took this as her cue to leave. She grabbed a wrist from each girl and dragged them out of the director's office.

As soon as they stopped, Catra yanked her arm away from Adora with an annoyed sound. Glimmer didn't seem to notice when Adora didn't let go and started running soft patterns along her arm.

If anything, Glimmer drifted closer.

Adora nearly froze as the thought crossed her mind, but was yanked out of the spiral of thoughts by Catra's voice.

"Why do we have to plan a game?" she complained, arms folded tightly across her chest.

"Because it's our job as counsellors?" Glimmer said incredulously, posing the phrase as more of a question.

Catra shrugged. "I guess."

"C'mon, Catra," Adora said playfully, knocking her shoulder into Catra's. "It'll be fun. I promise."

Catra's mismatched eyes flashed with anger, but before Adora could say something--probably something even more stupid--her shoulders slumped and her arms dropped to her sides. One hand made its way to rest on her hip rather sassily as she said, "Fine, but I get to be the leader of the team doing the hindering of whatever we come up with."

Adora snorted. "Sure."

"We should go back to the cabin and plan while the girls are in areas," suggested Glimmer, eyeing Catra in a weird way.

Adora nodded slowly, puzzled by the expression. Glimmer started for the cabin, pulling Adora along since the blonde was still gripping her wrist.

Panic erupted in Adora's chest when her foot caught on a rock and she went careening forward. She barely stopped her face from planting itself firmly in the dirt, catching the ground with her hands instead.

The other two girls stood wide-eyed for a moment, but the second they knew Adora was okay (by the annoyed huff that escaped her) they burst into laughter.

Adora collapsed onto the dirt and rolled onto her back with a groan. "I'm so glad that was amusing to you two," she said dryly.

The pair stifled their laughter as best they could. They shared another weird look that Adora couldn't put words to, but that made her stomach squirm. The feeling was pushed away when Glimmer reached a hand out and helped the blonde stand again.

"Sorry," giggled Glimmer.

Catra scoffed. "No, you're not."

Glimmer paused. "Yeah, I'm not." She grinned widely at Adora.

Adora just pouted and let Glimmer lead the way back to the cabin. Catra bumped Adora's shoulder with her's again with a sly and familiar grin. 

Warmth bloomed in Adora's chest from the familiarity of the action and she grinned back as they followed the pink-haired girl that made them light-headed in very different ways.

Or so Adora thought.

***

Catra felt ridiculous.

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this," she muttered as Adora leaned closer to her face, with an over the top look of concentration, and painted more blue and purple lines on her cheeks.

Glimmer was grinning widely as she pressed her hands into two plates full of purple and blue paint respectively and pressed painted handprints onto Catra's bare arms messily. Catra shivered.

"The paint is cold," she complained.

Glimmer paid her no mind as she ducked under Adora and without warning pressed her hands pointing upwards onto both sides of Catra's collarbone.

Catra almost hissed at the contact as she jumped back, stumbling and collapsing haphazardly onto one of the A&C benches.

Glimmer giggled and Catra glared at her, feeling her face heat up. Maybe having the paint all over her face was a good thing.

Adora put a hand over her mouth to stifle her own laughter. "C'mon, Catra. It's fun."

Catra huffed. "Yeah sure, fun until I have to take  _ another  _ shower."

"I could always clean the paint off with the pressure washer," suggested Glimmer with a mischievous grin.

Catra scowled. "Like I'd let you anywhere near me with water."

"You didn't seem to care yesterday morning."

Catra's cheeks stung and she moved her gaze to look at Adora while Glimmer smiled smugly. At this point, she was sure the paint was useless.

Adora looked confused. Catra waited for her to ask and was a little disappointed when Adora just gently grabbed her chin and lifted the paintbrush again. "Let me finish. We have to go explain the game still."

Oh yeah. The game.

Despite it being the entire reason she was decked out in black shorts, one of Glimmer's blue and purple  _ Camp Brightmoon _ tank tops and covered head to toe in paint, Catra had almost forgotten. Adora's fingers were feather-light on her face and the cold wetness of the paint on her arms, shoulders and chest were in stark contrast to Glimmer's mischievous grin. Her head was spinning. She could hardly be blamed for forgetting.

But the game.

It was mostly Glimmer's idea, but Adora and she had helped modify it to their own ideas. It was based on a game that the camp used to play every summer when Glimmer was young before it got replaced with other newer games over the years. They'd taken to calling it The Princess Rebellion after Catra had insisted on having the counsellor faction of the game called Princesses because Glimmer acted like such a princess. Glimmer had shoved Catra off the bed as Adora pointed out that that made Catra a princess as well. There was a lot of bickering but the name had stuck.

The campers were split into two teams, blue and purple with Adora and Glimmer respectively as their leaders, and they had to chase counsellors around the camp trying to steal flags off of their belts. The more flags each team collected the more points they got. There was also a bonus flag called the Beacon (named after their Beacon, of course. Catra had nearly choked when Adora had spoken the words "our secret spot". Glimmer hadn't faired much better.) that would be hidden somewhere on the camp's grounds. It was silver and worth one hundred bonus points.

As promised, Catra had been put in charge of the other counsellors in getting chased by and chasing the campers to hinder their progress. She had to tag campers before they stole her flags and then she could take whatever flags they had on hand at the time. It was going to be a fun night.

It would be even more fun if she could get her heart to stop racing. She hadn't even run yet for god's sake.

"Okay, there!" said Adora as she stepped back to admire her handiwork. 

"Aww, you look great!" said another voice. Catra looked over and saw Scorpia approaching with Perfuma. 

The knowing grin aimed at the white-haired woman was wiped right off her face when Glimmer snorted, "Nice hearts."

Catra flushed. "Did Adora draw hearts on my face?"

The satisfied look on the blonde's face gave her the answer at the same time Glimmer said, "Yeah she did."

Adora laughed. "C'mere, Glim, you guys can match."

A furious blush flooded Glimmer's face. Catra laughed. "Yeah, Sparkles, let's match."

Bow had now come over and exclaimed, "Wait I wanna draw them!"

He grabbed the paintbrush from Adora who was now keeling over with laughter. He quickly grabbed Glimmer's shoulder and painted tiny hearts on her cheeks with purple paint.

Glimmer pouted and Bow stepped out of the way so everyone could see. "You look so cute!" he gushed.

The flush on her face grew deeper. She snatched the paintbrush from Bow's hands and dipped it in the blue paint. "Adora's turn!"

Adora straightened up, eyes wide. "No wait-"

Catra was two steps ahead and quickly jumped up from the bench and slung an arm around Adora's shoulders as best she could with the height difference. "Let's go, princess." 

Glimmer jumped on the opportunity and gave Adora giant hearts on both cheeks with a huge grin on her face the whole time. Adora rolled her eyes. "Okay, we all match. Are you happy?"

Glimmer shot an amused look at Catra. It took more concentration than Catra wanted to admit for her to send an equally entertained look back.

"Yep!" Glimmer replied, smirking.

Adora glanced at Catra. Catra hummed. "Oh definitely."

The whole group turned their heads when they heard the A&C doors swing open and hit the wall. Micah peeked his head in and grinned. "You guys ready?"

A series of nods passed around the room and Adora took the lead heading for the door, pulling away from Catra's grasp and only turning back to smile beckoningly to her and Glimmer.

Butterflies overwhelmed Catra as soon as she saw Adora's smile and watched Glimmer nearly run to catch up to the blonde. Catra, on the other hand, wasn't sure if walking was an option currently.

"Hey, wildcat," Scorpia's familiar warm voice broke through her thoughts. "You coming?"

Catra nodded and fell into step beside the other women, trying her best to calm the hurricane.

But that's the thing about hurricanes.

You can't just calm the storm. 

***

The game was going well.

Glimmer was standing on one of the picnic benches holding a large bucket that was about half full of flags. Kids were running around screaming joyfully as they chased counsellors. The occasional scream was mingled with the war cry of various counsellors as they tagged campers that ran by them.

Catra could be seen jogging after a couple of second youngest boys who were running full speed toward Glimmer, a small handful of flags in their fists. They skidded to a stop in front of Glimmer. 

Catra huffed dramatically. "I'm gonna get you boys. The night is young yet."

One boy collected their flags and reached up to place them in the hat. Glimmer leaned down so he could reach and grinned. "Thank you very much!" she said sweetly. The boy smiled. Glimmer kneeled and made a show of whispering way too loudly, "You guys don't have any flags now." She pointed at Catra. "But she does." Grins broke across the boys' faces. "Go get her!"

The boys whipped around and Catra's eyes widened in mock betrayal. "Wow, way to turn on your own co, Sparkles!"

Glimmer laughed as the boys scrambled after Catra rather fast, almost giving Catra a run for her money. Or flags, rather.

Letting her gaze trail across center camp, Glimmer spotted Adora standing tall on the top of the washroom steps, animatedly explaining something to a group of youngest girls who were huddled on the bottom steps, watching Adora with rapt interest. Adora caught Glimmer's eye and winked.

Glimmer just bounced the hat full of flags in response with a grin, ignoring her pounding heart. Adora tilted her head toward her own hat sitting on the steps beside her. There were two. They were slightly smaller, but  _ there were two _ . Glimmer stuck her tongue out at the blonde who just grinned mischievously, turning her attention back to the group of campers.

Glimmer huffed, bouncing the hat in her hands again. Her attention was pulled to one of her own campers sitting sullenly on top of the rock beside the picnic bench.

Frosta looked up when Glimmer jumped down from the bench and went to lean against the rock.

"Don't feel like playing?" she asked.

Frosta shrugged. "Everyone just keeps leaving me behind. I'm probably more useful here."

Glimmer frowned. "I'm sorry that sucks."

"Thanks," Frosta shot back sarcastically.

Glimmer snorted. "Hang on, listen. Nobody ever wanted to hang out with me either in my first few years of camp."

"What?" Frosta exclaimed. "But who wouldn't want to be your friend? Your parents run the place."

"You just answered your own question," Glimmer laughed. "And even so, I was…  _ a lot  _ when I was younger. Nobody ever wanted to put up with me. Until Bow. Even now, I don't exactly do well with new people."

Frosta snorted. "You mean with Catra."

Glimmer felt her face heat up. " _ Not _ the point."

"Your face says otherwise."

"What I'm  _ trying to say _ , is that those girls suck."

"I don't think you can say your campers suck to other campers. Not very professional."

Glimmer ignored Frosta's wide grin. "Let me finish. The right people will want to hang out with you. And who knows, there's a lot of new kids here this summer of all ages. Maybe you'll make some new friends this year."

Frosta's grin faltered. "Yeah, I guess. Just sucks now."

"You can hang out with me tonight," offered Glimmer warmly. "C'mon, I'll show you how to get the youngest boys to tackle Catra."

Frosta nodded, her grin slowly returning. "Okay, but only if you stop making googly eyes at Adora  _ and _ Catra."

Glimmer's blush returned with vengeance.

***

The game was a huge success.

Adora's team won, of course. Glimmer had pouted playfully until Adora impulsively kissed her on the cheek and teasingly told her to lighten up.

"I'll let you win next time."

This had earned the blonde a solid punch on the arm.

Catra grinned. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm the real winner here."

"You got tackled by a bunch of seven-year-old boys and lost all your flags," deadpanned Adora.

"I was targeted! And they're in your bucket, aren't they?"

Glimmer laughed. The sound combined with Catra's cocky grin was enough to make Adora's head spin.

They were standing near their campers while everyone ate their evening snack before heading off to get ready for bed. Glimmer and Adora were wet from washing off paint in the lake, both figuring they'd leave showers until the next day. Catra had just gotten back from a quick shower, comfy in a new pair of shorts and a Camp Brightmoon sweater Adora had thrown at her face while they were all changing because Catra was whining about not being able to find a hoodie.

Adora was confused by the shift between the three of them. This was the easiest and most relaxed couple of days they had had together. It was like something had finally given way and they could just relax. She couldn't stop thinking about it, but she didn't want to jinx it.

They could use the relaxation.

And it seemed Micah had the same idea when he approached them.

"Awesome job with the game tonight guys!" he greeted. "I'm sure we'll be playing it again this summer."

"Thanks, Dad," Glimmer said with a smile.

"Of course, sweetheart," he replied warmly. "I actually came over to talk to you guys about nights off. I figured after tonight that you guys deserve to take one of the few you get. If you want, of course. But the thing is there's no one to cover for all three of you, so one of you will have to do another night. So if you want to, decide who's staying behind and let me know."

Glimmer shrugged. "I told Bow we'd do something on his night off, so you guys can go if you want." She looked expectantly between Adora and Catra. 

Adora shrugged. "We could find something to do. You want to?"

Catra nodded. "Yeah, why not?"

"You'll be okay with the kids tonight, Glim?" Adora asked.

Glimmer nodded. "Totally. You guys go have fun."

"Okay perfect!" Micah exclaimed. "You guys have fun. I'll see you in the morning." He headed over to another group of campers and counsellors.

Adora grinned. "You wanna head out now, Catra? If that's good with you?" She aimed the last part at Glimmer.

With a soft smile, Glimmer said, "I think I can handle the girls. It's just teeth brushing and pyjamas at this point."

"Thanks, Glim."

Catra smirked. "See you later, princess."

Adora grabbed Catra's hand and pulled her away from the crowd. "Beacon?"

Catra nodded. "Beacon."

It didn't take them too long to reach the cliff. They both knew the path well now. The only thing that slowed them down was their own joking around. At one point, Adora tripped and Catra laughed so hard there were tears streaming down her face.

Neither had ever felt so free.

It was like when they were kids but different.

Better.

When they finally reached the cliffside, they collapsed in a heap near the ledge. Adora leaned back on her hands as Catra rubbed one eye, her blue eye meeting Adora's.

"Hey, Adora?"

"Yeah?"

"I missed you, dummy."

"Missed you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you for reading! And 150 kudos :') I didn't think I'd get this far. That being said I started uni and boy that's a lot of work so updates are gonna be slower so I don't burn myself out. I'm aiming for every Monday, but it might have to be every other Monday as I get further into the semester. I think that's the only sort of schedule I can give you I'm bad at due dates both for getting ahead of myself and falling behind. But you'll get something at some point xD


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #GiveFrostaFriends2020

Frosta was pulled rather abruptly out of her sleep by three rapid knocks at the cabin door, followed shortly thereafter by Adora's voice.

"Come on, girls! You heard the call. Time for flagpole and breakfast. We've got a whole day ahead of us."

It was always Adora. 

Adora was usually the only one up already. Glimmer would be dragging herself out of bed alongside the campers. Catra would groan and shove her face further into her pillow, refusing to wake up until Adora convinced her to (usually by saying she'd drink all the coffee if Catra didn't get up).

Unless it was one of the days Glimmer and Catra would wander into the cabin shortly after wake up call. The pair would enter, hair wet and cheeks flushed from the rare heated shower water (and Frosta stood by her point that the cause was also each other), and help Adora get the campers up and out.

It was the seventh day of camp. They'd formed a routine. Frosta liked the routine of it. It always felt best once she'd reached that point in the session. She pulled a hoodie from near her pillow, side-eyeing the mess she had built up over the past couple days, and pulled it over top of her tank top. It was always cold in the morning.

She scrambled out of her bed, slipping on her sandals and running a hand through her hair in an attempt to flatten it. It worked pretty well and she headed for the door. She was always one of the first out the door. Maybe it was because she was more of a morning person than she admitted. Maybe it was because she didn't talk to anyone. She didn't think about it much.

Hugging herself to ward off the morning chill, she began to make her way toward center camp for the flagpole ceremony which was always followed by breakfast. Her stomach growled. Day seven was always pancake day.

Someone fell into step beside her. She looked over to see Adora with a small smile on her lips. "Hey," the blonde said simply.

Adora always talked to Frosta in the morning. She couldn't decide if it was because she didn't talk to any of her cabin mates and Adora felt bad or if it was just Adora being genuinely nice and enjoying being able to hold a conversation with someone at the ridiculous hour. Most of the other campers (and counsellors) were still half asleep at that point.

She never felt like Adora was pitying her though. And the conversations were simple and nice. Nothing like with Catra. Or even Glimmer.

Catra was easy to banter with and fun to knock down a peg despite her counsellor status. It made for entertaining conversation until one of them touched on something too sensitive.

Glimmer treated her the most like a kid. Which was fair considering she was twelve, but it led to a lot of wandering around subjects Frosta wanted to tease and talk about. But Glimmer was always sweet and made her feel better about hanging out on her own.

Adora made her feel like she wanted to talk to her. There was no coddling, but it wasn't the teasing banter she kept up with Catra. Adora had authority and she knew it, but she never brought it into their conversations. They just talked. Like equals. It was almost relaxing.

"Hi."

"How'd you sleep?"

Frosta kicked a rock on the path. "Not too bad. You?"

Adora grinned wryly. "Oh, you know, same as usual."

Frosta nodded. That was another thing about talking to Adora. There wasn't very much she wouldn't talk about. Frosta knew that Adora didn't sleep much and that she'd go for walks at night. Both because Adora told her during a morning chat at breakfast and because she'd noticed all three of her counsellors sneaking out at certain points of the night while she was reading under her sleeping bag, flashlight in hand. She'd tucked the information away for later.

Adora asked her something else. "Hm?"

"Oh, I just asked what you had planned for the day."

They had nearly reached the flagpole. There was a decently sized crowd waiting to start the day.

"I think we're doing archery in camp craft today," replied Frosta. "And making a floating castle in boating."

"Oh, the floating castles are the best!" Adora glanced back to make sure the rest of the cabin's inhabitants were nearly to the flagpole. "I made so many of those my last year at the-"

The Fright Zone.

That was one thing Adora didn't talk about.

Frosta was still trying to piece that together. Obviously, the camp hadn't been great. It got shut down for a long list of reasons Frosta had read when it popped up on every news station in Brightmoon earlier that year. But she couldn't get anything out of either of her resident former Fright Zone experts.

She'd talked to Scorpia who was delighted to tell her what a shame it was that the camp had got shut down. She talked for twenty minutes straight about the differences, mentioning specifically,  _ many _ times, that the food at Brightmoon was significantly better. Entrapta added a little bit about the camp director, Hordak, and how great he was while Scorpia smiled awkwardly, clearly a little unsure about that idea.

Adora would almost say it sometimes and then just… stop. Like full stop, change the subject. It'd be funny if it wasn't weird. 

Catra would talk about it offhandedly, but as soon as Frosta dared ask anything beyond the little snippet she was given, the older girl would get snippy and defensive.

So, something was definitely up.

It wouldn't matter if it wasn't so weird. Frosta was also just curious. She needed something to keep camp interesting while the other girls in her cabin talked about the boys in Dryl.

Well, something aside from the obvious tension between her three counsellors. Obvious to everyone except them apparently.

Or maybe she wasn't giving them enough credit.

Whatever. Helping them figure it out would be plenty of entertainment. For both sessions she was attending.

Maybe the second session would have more willing participants in her plotting. And maybe she'd make some friends. Wouldn't that be a dream? She rolled her eyes at the thought, glad she wasn't in the middle of a conversation anymore.

After shutting her mouth and ushering Frosta into the crowd in an attempt to brush off her near mention of the Fright Zone, Adora was now standing about a foot ahead of her, watching what was happening near the flagpole, but tilted her head to smile at Glimmer when the pink-haired girl sidled up beside her. Glimmer smiled back and blushed when Adora boldly entwined their fingers.

Okay, maybe they could have a little more credit than she was handing out.

Catra fell in beside Frosta in the crowd, her arms folded across her chest. Frosta looked at her and Catra sent a tired smile her way before looking toward the front. A sour expression crossed her face when she looked at Adora and Glimmer in front of them.

Okay, but Catra didn't get any credit yet.

***

A day in the life of a camper was rather repetitive. And that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. You knew what to expect. Even when they did something "spontaneous" you knew what to expect.

But it was nice in a way.

Having a routine made it easier to know where people would be and when. Whether Frosta used that to avoid them or find them was dependent on the day.

And camp was never boring.

Example A being the A&C building. The building was always bustling and full of energy. If music wasn't loudly playing, drifting out of the building to the surrounding area, it was because Double Trouble was putting on some sort of show. Usually with Bow and Sea Hawk and a few other counsellors at their side.

There was always a group of counsellors and campers at the ping pong table, holding some sort of championship, trying to best each other. New people joined every day and as the weeks went on the championships crumbled into much less serious banter and rivalries. The same as the summer before and the one before that and the one before that…

Frosta pushed open the wooden swing doors that led into A&C. Music was playing. It was free time. Her hair was wet from boating with Sea Hawk. She was excited for camp craft with Bow and Netossa, but first, she had to occupy herself for another hour.

She wandered up to the counter and was greeted by Perfuma. She must be helping out in A&C for the free period.

"What can I get you, sweetie?" she asked warmly.

"Can you start a square chain for me?" asked Frosta.

Perfuma nodded. "What colours would you like?"

"Blue and white, please."

Perfuma cut the coloured cords hanging down from the rack to the right length and quickly twisted them together. She handed it to Frosta. 

Frosta thanked her and went to find somewhere to sit. The building was pretty full, but she quickly spotted a table of girls from her cabin sitting together. She frowned.

She didn't want to sit with them. They hadn't even given her the time of day all week. But Glimmer's voice popped into her head again, encouraging sweetly for her to try and talk to the other girls. With another glance around the room, she sighed and decided it was worth a shot. At least if it didn't work, she tried and she could just move on with her summer. Sort of.

Before she could overthink the idea, she walked over. "Hey guys," she greeted with a small grin, "can I sit with you?"

A couple of the girls glanced between each other with uncertainty. Frosta felt her stomach twist and was about to forget the whole idea when one girl perked up, "Yeah of course!" She smiled brightly and Frosta sat down across from her near the end after noticing her elbow the girl beside her who had a look of disdain.

"I'm Lilyana, but you can call me Lily." The girl talked quickly, her voice warm. "You're doing boating, right?"

Frosta nodded. The other girls seemed to brighten a bit at the sight of one of their friends greeting Frosta so nicely. They went back to their conversation, but Lily continued to talk to Frosta. 

She leaned across the table and said in a near whisper, "Don't worry about them. They wouldn't know an interesting person if they hit them with a brick."

Frosta raised a brow with a snort, hardly believing what she was hearing.

This girl was in her cabin. She'd seen her but never talked to her. She was usually quieter among the group of girls that liked to snub Frosta. What had changed?

Lily tilted her head. "You look surprised."

Frosta opened her mouth to reply, but the words caught in her throat. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

Lily just pursed her lips. "Wanna go to the rock climbing wall for the last forty minutes?"

This seemed to kickstart Frosta's brain. "Yeah totally!"

Lily grinned. "Let's go."

They didn't even say goodbye to the rest of the girls. Frosta abandoned her barely started chain and followed Lily out of the building, confused but nearly bursting with excitement.

They started down the path that led to the rock climbing wall. Lily began talking a mile a minute and Frosta was still confused but happy to listen, butting in every once in a while to add in her own two cents.

They'd almost reached the wall when Frosta stopped suddenly. Her brow furrowed. "Why'd you suddenly decide to talk to me? It's been like a week."

Lily kicked the ground, twisting a lock of caramel coloured hair around her finger. "I should've done it sooner. Like I said, you seem way more interesting than all their conversations."

"Why today?"

She shrugged. "I didn't want to let them brush you off again when you came over trying to make friends. And I wanted to talk to you so..."

Frosta grinned, the pit in her stomach loosening a bit "Thanks. You're better than them anyway."

Lily blushed.

Frosta glanced over to the wall that was now clearly in sight. Catra stood lazily leaning against the belaying post, chatting with Adora. She looked back at Lily with a mischievous grin. "Hey, wanna hear my matchmaking plots?"

Lily laughed. "Of course. Where should I even start with Glimmer and Adora?"

"And Catra," added Frosta with a laugh.

"Oh?"

And so Frosta made her first friend.

***

Plotting was a lot more fun when you had someone to share your ideas with. Even if it was just one other person. But they were working on that.

Lily was convinced they could recruit the rest of the girls to play their little game. Frosta was unsure but ready to captain the ship. Metaphorically speaking, that is.

They also both happened to take camp craft together as well as boating. The whole hour-long area was spent plotting out ways to get their plan to fall into place.

Frosta also discovered that Lily was even bolder than she was, much to her amusement and chagrin. She'd nearly dropped her bow when Lily, who was shooting her own bow beside her with the help of Bow, asked, "Does Glimmer like Adora? Like,  _ like _ like."

Bow fumbled for words, clearly not knowing how to not spill the not-so-secret secret of his best friends' mutual crushes on each other to a couple of twelve-year-olds in a dignified way. "What makes you think so?" he squeaked out before clearing his throat. "I mean, why are you asking?"

Lily giggled. "I just wanted to check. It's obvious anyway."

Bow's face was red and Frosta felt a little bad. She put the bow down. Not that bad though. "We just want to help. Since clearly, they aren't making much progress themselves."

"I know right?" slipped out before Bow could stop it and the two girls burst out laughing as he slapped a hand over his mouth. He mumbled what sounded like "I'm going over there" through his fingers and practically ran over to the picnic bench. Netossa looked confused and asked if he was okay as he nodded frantically.

Frosta high-fived Lily with a grin. "We should ask Scorpia and Entrapta about Catra."

"Good idea!"

***

After lunch, they had another free period followed by cabin counsellor which was essentially an activity planned for the cabin by the counsellors. They planned to use that time to recruit their cabin mates for their quest.

But first, they wanted to talk to Scorpia and Entrapta.

Frosta was unsure how much information they could get out of the other two counsellors. She also had a feeling they might let their plans slip around Catra which she was sure would be a very entertaining conversation for Frosta later on.

Scorpia and Entrapta were found hanging out at the music cabin. Scorpia was smiling brightly as she sang for some first-year campers, most of whom were girls from her and Perfuma's cabin. Entrapta was eagerly picking apart some new contraption alongside Jewelstar.

"I'm not so sure, you two," Scorpia answered after the two scheming girls had pulled her attention away from the show she was putting on. "Catra and Adora have a lot of," she paused, "complicated history. Maybe you shouldn't…" she trailed off, seemingly losing her point in her attempt to be subtle.

Lily tilted her head, her bangs falling into her eyes. "What do you mean complicated?"

Frosta snorted. Lily was the perfect partner in crime for her plan. Just bold enough to ask the questions she was debating whether the pay-off would be worth it, but still sweet enough to talk around it and pull some giggles out of the other girl.

Scorpia's brows drew together, a look of concern crowding her features. "Well, I don't really know if I should-"

"Catra and Adora grew up together!" added Entrapta, effectively interrupting Scorpia before the poor woman started rambling.

"Like…" Frosta started, thinking hard on the idea. "Outside camp?"

Entrapta nodded with enthusiasm. "Oh yeah! Catra was always following Adora and Adora never left her behind." She frowned. "Well, that is-"

Scorpia's face flushed and her eyes widened as she exclaimed, "I just wouldn't say anything! That's their business."

"We just wanna help," Lily said warmly. Frosta grinned in agreement.

Scorpia's features softened. "Aw, that's so sweet. Maybe-" she stopped, "hang on, no no no. No meddling." Her eyes widened. "Catra would kill me. You girls should really just leave it be. Catra would want it that way. Yeah. That's what's best. Even if Catra clearly still likes-" she stopped again, slapping a hand across her mouth. "I mean-"

Frosta grinned mischievously. "Could you say that again?"

Scorpia quickly looked at her watch, face still flushed with embarrassment. "Oh woulda look at that, girls! Ten minutes till the end of free time. That means it's clean up time!" She directed the last part at the whole cabin as she moved her attention away from the topic at hand.

Frosta and Lily took this as their cue that the conversation was over. They helped with the cleanup, mulling over the tiny bit of information they gleaned from the interaction.

It wasn't much to work with and left them with more questions than answers. Maybe Scorpia was right. Maybe there was more to it than their young perspectives could or should look at.

Was that going to stop them?

They grinned at each other from different parts of the cabin, helping put away various instruments and toys.

Absolutely not.

***

The next part of her day was cabin counsellor. And it was way different than she had thought it would go when she woke up this morning.

She and Lily had raced all the way back to the cabin, pushing and shoving in an attempt to beat the other, and nearly crashing right into Catra.

"Woah girls," Catra asked with a laugh. "What's the rush?"

Frosta shrugged. "We were just racing."

"And I won!"

A wistful look crossed Catra's face, but it was gone before Frosta could figure out if she imagined it or not.

Instead, she asked, "What're we doing for cabin counsellor today?" 

Catra shrugged. "We thought we'd let you guys have free reign of A&C for the first half or so before we got everything ready for out-trip in a couple of days."

Frosta nearly gasped when she was struck with a genius idea. She must've made some sort of face though based on the weird look Catra sent her way. 

"That sounds fun!" she replied quickly. She glanced at Lily. "Come on I wanna show you something!" 

Lily nodded and waved to Catra as they bounded up the stairs and into the cabin. Frosta glanced around quickly. Glimmer was helping one of the girls braid her hair. Adora was nowhere in sight yet. She gestured for Lily to climb onto her bed.

In a low voice, grinning the whole time, Frosta said, "I have an idea!"

"I figured," the other girl replied in an equally hushed voice, a smile pulling at her lips, hazel eyes shining with excitement.

Frosta leaned closer. "We can test some ideas out on out-trip. We'll have to brainstorm though." 

A wide smile crossed Lily's face. "That's perfect!"

"I know!"

Their whispers slowly moved into a quiet brainstorming session. Giggles drifted from Frosta's bunk as they planned, some ideas becoming ridiculous and others being stored away for later. They still needed some other hands and ears.

Frosta could feel Catra staring at her and when she looked she was surprised by the pleased look the older girl was displaying. Catra smiled, more of a smirk than anything actually, when she noticed Frosta looking.

Frosta smiled back and nearly burst out into more giggles when the obvious mischief in her expression caused Catra's brow to crinkle and eyes to narrow with suspicion.

Both of them looked away when Adora entered the cabin, announcing it was time to go.

Frosta hoped that Lily was right. They may need more people on their side than she originally thought.

Lily walked ahead of her and started chatting with some of the other girls. They kept glancing back and Frosta's cheeks stung. This still sucked.

"Getting sick of me, huh?"

Catra had fallen into step beside her with an amused smirk.

Frosta scoffed. "Bold of you to assume I wasn't always."

"Ouch," laughed Catra. "I'm glad you're making friends though."

"Most of the other girls don't like me much still," Frosta replied with a shrug.

Catra scrunched up her nose. "They'll come around."

Frosta brushed it off.

"If they don't, I'll kick their asses," Catra joked.

"Are you ever going to be professional?" But the threat, even if it was completely for jokes, made her feel better.

"I don't have that word in my vocabulary," grinned Catra.

"Clearly."

She heard her name being called. She looked ahead and saw Lily waving her over to the big group of girls. She felt apprehension building in her chest. Catra put a hand on her shoulder and smiled gently. "You got this." The words were hesitant and unsure, but Frosta knew that it wasn't because she was unsure of Frosta, just herself.

Frosta shot her a toothy grin and sped off towards the other girls. Crashing into the group rather abruptly. Lily pulled her into the conversation and for that she was grateful. It began to feel more natural and okay and Frosta was revelling in the fact.

This was what camp was supposed to be like.

She grinned wider.

***

The rest of the day went nearly perfectly. Well, as perfectly as it could when what Frosta had thought would be happening that morning was the complete opposite of what was happening.

Lily had pulled her into the group of girls quite successfully and she was even becoming fast friends with two of the other girls, Tanya and Eleri. She still felt wary of some of the other girls, but Lily made her feel better about it.

And their mission had been successful!

The way to dinner was bustling as all the girls huddled together as they walked about eight feet ahead of their counsellors and brainstormed some, if Frosta said so herself, wicked schemes for their out-trip.

Their out-trip was the day after the next. Day Nine. And they would be gone for a whole five days. That was plenty of time to cause some problems (and maybe solve some?).

Frosta was really excited.

Dinner was still full of chatter that Frosta wasn't used to being included in, but they had to put a pause on their planning session since their counsellors sat with them. Frosta was fine with this for now. She was just basking in the feeling of inclusion. It made her feel warm but made her stomach wobble. She didn't know how to react so she settled for talking. A lot. And hopefully not pushing away her new friends with her excited chatter.

Lily sat beside her and seemed to revel in the consistent amount of talking that Frosta and her were providing for each other, going a mile a minute and barely touching their food. Dinner was nearly ending when they realized and quickly devoured what was left of their dinners in preparation for dessert.

Day seven meant it was cupcakes.

The trays were brought out and the girls all quickly snatched cupcakes from the trays.

Lily grinned. "I bet you can't hit Fiona with your cupcake and get it to stick."

"And waste my perfectly good cupcake?" asked Frosta with a snort.

Lily dragged her finger through the frosting on Frosta's cupcake and wiped it onto Frosta's nose. "I'll give you mine. I don't like them much anyway."

Frosta's nose wrinkled from the ticklish feeling. "You  _ don't _ like cupcakes?!"

" _ Come onnn _ , it'll be funny. I'll take the blame." 

Frosta pondered the idea. It would be pretty funny. Fiona still hadn't let up on the not-exactly-in-good-fun teasing despite Frosta being included finally. It would be so easy. And  _ so satisfying. _ And she would prove Lily wrong…

"Okay fine fine."

Lily cheered quietly.

Frosta made sure neither Adora, nor Catra, nor Glimmer were paying attention and quickly took aim and whipped the cupcake across the table, her heart thumping with adrenaline ( _ why was this so tense? _ ).

Right as she threw it, she was met by the feeling of cold icing and cake being smashed onto her face, followed by the sticky feeling of Lily's fingers on her cheek.

She must've looked ridiculous, covered in cupcake mush and was completely pulled away from her concentration on hitting the other girl. Lily burst into a fit of giggles just as Fiona yelled, "Hey!"

_ Ah, so it worked. _

Frosta dared to glance over and saw that her cupcake had indeed made its impact right in Fiona's hair, trailing icing as it fell to the ground below their table.

Some of the other girls snickered and grabbed their own cupcakes, or what was left of them, grinning giddily before following suit.

There was icing everywhere. And all over them. And their counsellors were finally noticing. Frosta winced but found her eyes widening in both horror and awe when she saw one of the youngest boys at Bow and Sea Hawk's table grin widely, snatching a cupcake that was left on the tray and shove it into the boy beside him's face.

What followed was an absolute disaster:

One of the boys boldly jumped up onto his bench and screamed, "Food fight!" before scrambling for another cupcake.

Frosta and Lily looked at each other with a mix of horror and pure entertainment. Fiona was glaring at them. Adora looked absolutely panicked until Catra shoved a handful of cupcake into her face. Glimmer's face was red as she tried not to laugh and also worked to help get the situation under control, glaring as seriously as she could at Catra.

It took less than a minute for the dining hall to dissolve into chaos. Frosta sat in horrified awe of what she and Lily had inadvertently started.

Counsellors scrambled to get things under control with the help of some older campers, but it was hard to avoid the sticky handfuls of cake soaring through the air.

Some campers were ushered out of the dining hall in an attempt to subdue the situation. Others were easier to calm down inside.

It only lasted about ten minutes total but it was a  _ mess _ when things had calmed down. Frosta and Lily shot each other nervous looks as they followed the rest of their cabin out of the dining hall, trying to keep an eye on the boy who had yelled. Micah was currently talking to him.

They both winced when he pointed their way.

It didn't take long for Micah to catch up to them and after exchanging a few words with their counsellors, he eyed the two girls meaningfully and said, "Come with me, girls."

They exchanged a nervous look as they trailed behind him, leading back to the dining hall. It was empty when they entered once more.

He turned on them with a soft but disappointed expression. "Now do you want to explain yourselves?"

Frosta shifted awkwardly. Lily licked her lips. "It's my fault. I started the whole thing."

"Wait, I threw the first thing," Frosta butt in. She wasn't going to let Lily take all the blame. "We were just joking around."

"I egged her on though! I didn't think that the other kids would even notice."

Micah chuckled. "Either way, you're old enough to know better. And now you get to help the kitchen crew clean this whole place up instead of participating in tonight's evening program."

Frosta frowned. Lily looked apologetic.

Micah took their silence as acceptance and went to go talk to the kitchen staff.

Lily turned to Frosta. "I didn't mean to get us in trouble. I'm sorry."

Frosta smiled reassuringly. "It's my fault too. We'll just clean up together. And then we can cause trouble that's not going to get  _ us _ in trouble."

Lily grinned. "Sounds like a plan."

As they got started on their clean up job for the night, they joked around and continued to scheme.

Frosta didn't think she'd ever enjoyed a punishment as much as she did that night, laughter echoing through the dining hall and grins lighting up her face.

This summer was going to be great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk how I feel about this chapter but it exists and Frosta's perspective was a fun experiment lmao. I hope you enjoyed her scheming! Also I've had Lily for like 4 days and I love her so much help.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Idk they're cute and stuck in a tent together for 5 days.

The water lapped menacingly at the dock. Catra's eyes narrowed as she stood off to the side on the only patch of grass near the swimming area. And that's where she would be staying until Adora had finished loading the boats. She blocked the sun by placing her hand over her eyes.

The girls of their cabin stood around chatting excitedly, decked out in swimsuits and life jackets, paddles in hand. Paddles that were currently being brandished against each other like some sort of awkward sword. Catra rolled her eyes, a smirk making its way onto her face.

But then one girl swung the paddle a little too hard and Catra found herself stepping forward. "Hey, knock it off, you guys!"

The girl looked sheepish as she apologized and propped the paddle on the ground, using it as a crutch. She said something to the other girls that Catra pretended not to hear and another burst of laughter came from the group.

The corner of her lip twitched as she stepped back onto her grassy patch. Glimmer approached and leaned against the narrow tree trunk about a foot away. "How are you doing?"

As the words washed over her, she continued to look out toward the water. Catra didn't think she'd get used to this. The niceties. What did she do to deserve this now? All she did was take her anger towards Adora out on the other girl. And what did Glimmer do to deserve any niceties back?

_ Well, she apologized to start.  _ That suggestion was unwelcome and too optimistic. God, it sounded like her therapist. She pushed the thought away. 

It's not that the other girl's newfound kindness was unprecedented. They sure had been spending more time together. And they hadn’t even punched each other yet! Well, at least not in a way that wasn’t just them joking around. Mostly. The kindness wasn’t even  _ unexpected _ . She just couldn't stand it. 

But she wouldn't know what to do if it stopped now. 

She certainly didn't want to entertain that thought. So she shoved it as far away as she could and replied, "Well the water's still there. And we still have to go-" she squinted into the distance, barely making out the island they were canoeing to "-all the way over there."

Glimmer snickered. "Adora's putting the bags with everyone's sleeping bags in your boat. I think she's trying to make you feel better."

Catra crossed her arms, ignoring the queasy feeling in her stomach. "I'll feel better when we're back on solid ground. Are we going soon?"

Glimmer nodded, but her attention was drawn away by Adora's approach. The blonde grinned. "Good to go!" She gave them a thumbs up. Catra laughed at the awkward energy radiating off her.

"Come on we don't have all morning," Glimmer said, clapping her hands together and moving to get the campers' attention.

"We literally have all day, Sparkles," countered Catra as she took the lifejacket Adora had picked up and was holding out for her.

Glimmer ignored Catra's remark except for the smallest upturn of her lips as she zipped her own life jacket and ushered the campers towards the canoes that were loaded into the water.

A hand brushed against Catra's wrist, but by the time she looked over Adora had already stepped forward, seeming to change her mind in the half-second it took Catra to notice. Adora smiled brightly and Catra found herself following the blonde down to the docks. 

On one end of the dock, Glimmer was helping campers load into the canoes. A few of the girls were running around, nearly pushing each other into the water. Frosta and Lily seemed to be trying to see who could push each other into the water first. The dock wobbled, one side tipping sharply.

The water lapped at Catra's ankles because of the depth the dock was sinking from the weight of their entire cabin. It was warm. It wasn't terrible. If she just… didn't think about the possibility of falling in, it would be totally fine. Totally. Her stomach flipped.

One girl jumped excitedly, grabbing the swim stairs and leaning out over the water to avoid getting swiped by one of the other girls. The dock lurched.

Catra was gonna be sick.

This time a hand gripped her wrist firmly. Catra looked up from the water and met Adora's concerned gaze. She was led over to the canoe filled with trip bags.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Adora, kneeling to hold the canoe against the edge of the dock.

Glimmer had managed to get most of the girls off and running (or paddling) so the dock was much more stable again. Catra shoved nausea away, clenching her jaw. "I'm fine, Adora." The words were sharper than she meant. Maybe. Maybe not. She didn't know. Her head was still swimming even as she managed to push down the sickly feeling the swaying dock gave her. 

She climbed into the front of the boat, using Adora's shoulder as support. She hadn't been down to the docks since that terrible first day of the session, never mind back in a boat. And yeah, she trusted Adora not to tip the boat more than she did Glimmer, but her knuckles still turned white from how tightly she gripped the sides. She felt more than watched Adora clamber into the back of the canoe and push them off from the dock as she focused her gaze on the metal canoe floor, trying to dispel the lightheaded feeling being on any body of water gave her.

After a few minutes of smooth sailing--  _ literally _ \-- Catra found herself able to look up again, her grip loosening slightly. The sun shone in her eyes and she squinted angrily at it through her sunglasses.

"You okay?" repeated Adora.

Catra didn't have to turn around to know that Adora had the same exasperatedly concerned look on her face as she spoke. She was probably waiting for Catra to puke. It wasn't like it hadn't happened before. At least back when…

Again Catra was being reminded how weird this was.

A month ago she wasn't even thinking about Adora. Adora didn't exist in her life. Adora had left and she was angry and she didn't let any part of her remember why. Shoved it down almost as far as the reasoning behind her fear of being underwater for even a second.

And then suddenly Adora was back in her life.

She couldn't wrap her mind around it. What weird fate did they get themselves tangled in to end up at the same camp…a camp that wasn't  _ their _ camp? Adora had  _ left _ and Catra was damn near sure she'd never escape that home completely.

Adora had left her. Left her in the dust, completely alone. Left her to…

And now they were…

Friends? Maybe, maybe not. They worked together. Did that make them coworkers? Catra nearly scoffed at the thought. They weren't working some shitty minimum wage retail job. They were…

Adora had asked her a question. She squashed her train of thought and focused on answering. It made her head hurt. Or maybe that was the water. Maybe her head was still swimming. Like fish. Sick fish. Nausea.

"Catra?"

"'m fine," she muttered.

She was very wrong.

***

Adora had offered her headphones and water when they reached a nearby edge of land. She had gladly accepted the headphones and practically snatched the water out of Adora's hand the second her head stopped spinning. She tried to ignore the concerned panic filling Adora's features as she drank a few sips of water and then used some to wash the stale taste of sick out of her mouth, spitting it into the forest.

"Has that happened recently?"

Catra perked up at Adora's voice. She continued working on untangling the cheap headphones, happy to have something to focus on besides the splitting headache her bout of nausea had created. "No, not recently." She pulled at a particularly tight knot. "It's just because Sparkles tipped the boat last week. My brain is saying  _ not today.  _ And then I go and do it anyway." She cheered silently as she finished her untangling. 

Adora didn't look convinced when Catra looked up. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and Catra could practically feel the gears turning in her head.

"Adora, I'm fine," she insisted. "It's been ages since that's happened. And I feel fine now." She stood, swaying slightly when the movement made her vision blur for a moment. "Okay, mostly fine."

Adora shot her an unconvinced look. 

"Come  _ on, _ we're probably freaking the campers out. I don't even have to do anything in the boat."

With a sigh, Adora tore her gaze away from Catra's eyes. "Fine. Sit in the middle. Being lower will make it easier."

Catra nodded, climbing back into the boat. Adora handed Catra her phone from the backpack she was wearing. They only had them so they could contact the camp if something went wrong during their trip, but Catra figured they wouldn't mind if it helped her go on the trip in the first place. 

She plugged the headphones in and hit shuffle, not caring what played so long as she could close her eyes and pretend she was laying in bed in her dorm room, jamming out, instead of in a metal boat in the middle of a lake with her new-old friend Adora.

She spent the next thirty minutes nodding along to the music, eyes closed, trying her best to ignore every time the boat swayed.

***

Glimmer couldn't deny the twinge of worry that hit her when she looked back and saw Catra empty her stomach into the lake. It was right next to the horror and slight panic as she tried to keep the girls' attention on literally anything but that.

She was grateful that despite being five days long, the middle year out-trip was only ever a bonding experience. That meant one island. The only canoeing required was from camp and back to camp. The trip was more for exploring and spending time with your cabin in a tent that was definitely too small.

They had brought three tents. Two for the girls and one for them.

Glimmer was trying not to think about just how small it was.

She glanced back, nearly sighing with relief when she saw Adora and Catra gliding across the water again, quickly catching up to the rest of the group. Adora grinned at Glimmer. It only made it halfway to her eyes which crinkled with the concern she was trying to hide.

Glimmer's smile felt like more of a grimace. It probably was.

Adora had caught up to Glimmer entirely now. Their boats were parallel as they glided along, closer and closer to their destination. Catra was sitting in the middle on the floor of the canoe, leaning back against the thwart. She had headphones in. Her sunglasses stopped Glimmer from seeing if her eyes were open or not.

On the plus side, she didn't look nearly as green as she had when Glimmer looked at her on the docks back at camp.

But Adora's brow was still knit together as she carefully watched Catra from her seat only a few inches away. Her expression made Glimmer's stomach squirm.

Not wanting to be the next person to lose their lunch, Glimmer forced a playful smile onto her face. "I'll race you to the island!"

Adora looked over at her in surprise before it melted into an equally playful expression. "Oh, you're on!"

Glimmer giggled. She knew there was no way she would beat Adora. She was strong and had years of experience, but Adora was just always faster. It would be frustrating if the triumphant look on Adora's face every time she won wasn't so cute.

They could see the island now. Glimmer pushed harder, trailing behind Adora's boat by hardly a foot. The girls seemed to have caught onto their race and were cheering them on, trying their best to keep up.

Frosta and Lily, who had volunteered to ride with Glimmer, were giggling in the front two sections of the canoe as they paddled with Glimmer. Lily let her paddle go against the water, splashing Frosta behind her. Frosta shrieked, laughter continuing to flow from her. Adora gained another foot in the race.

Glimmer, jaw set with determination, paddled harder. Adora laughed, the sound echoing across the lake. Warmth bloomed in Glimmer's chest, threatening to distract her from the task at hand. A laugh escaped her when Adora glanced back at her, eyes shining with mischief.

Glimmer gave in and let her take the victory, coming to a slow stop a short way away from the island just after Adora. Adora cheered along with the campers in celebration of her win, cheeks flushed from exertion. Glimmer let out a breathy laugh and clapped along with some of the girls, grinning widely.

Catra stirred, sitting up slightly and yanking out an earbud. "Why'd we stop moving? Are we there?"

Adora didn't notice the other girl's movements right away, still caught up in the campers’ exaggerated cheers. Glimmer watched Catra's pinched expression soften into something sweeter when the brunette turned her head to look, lips parting as she watched Adora laugh.

Butterflies hit Glimmer like a train. Again. Stars, this really needed to stop.

Turning away, Glimmer said, "We're here. Everyone head right over there." She pointed. The words were both an answer to and a distraction from Catra.

The island itself was rather large. Trees covered most of the area, mostly pine, birch, and oak. A few clearings could be seen from the water. The closest one had well-worn paths leading to and from it all over what they could see of the island. 

It was a common destination for Camp Brightmoon's out-trips. There were multiple campsites scattered about, but the most popular one was on the edge of the most elevated part of the island. 

The firepit was tucked nicely in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by surprisingly flat rock and grass. It made the perfect spot for tents to be pitched and for not waking up in the middle of the night with a rock or root digging into your back. Being so close to the edge, the clearing opened up with a nice view of the lake and surrounding islands, the flat stone ground angling up to the highest point of the island: a rock-ledge, perfect for sitting and watching the stars.

It was Glimmer's favourite campsite. And she'd been to a lot. Watching the stars reminded her of easy trips with her parents when she was young. It'd been a long time since one of those. 

Now it was a nice reminder of long nights spent pointing out constellations and giggling at dumb jokes with Adora in the blonde's first year at Brightmoon. Glimmer smiled to herself.

The tip of her canoe bumped against the edge of the land, the bottom vibrating under her feet as it scraped the ground in the shallow water. Frosta hopped out of the boat, not caring about getting wet, and tugged it more firmly against the edge before sitting on the end of the canoe. Glimmer smiled as she watched the girl reach a hand out for Lily to grab. The other girl grasped it firmly and climbed forward out of the boat. Glimmer shoved her paddle on top of the others at the bottom of the boat and stepped carefully over each section until she reached the front, climbing out onto solid ground.

She helped the girls carry the canoe up to the campsite. The rest of the campers followed suit with their own canoes. Luckily, they only had five boats. One of which was Adora and Catra's which was still floating several feet away from the island. Probably waiting for the area to clear. It didn't take long for them to get the boats up and out, most of them having a few years of experience already. They knew the drill.

Adora coasted up to the edge, turning so the boat was flushed parallel to the land. Glimmer met them and held the boat steady, offering a hand to Catra.

Catra had pushed her sunglasses up so they were resting on her head and her mismatched gaze landed on Glimmer's offered hand. Annoyance flashed through her eyes before disappearing as quickly as it appeared. She climbed out of the boat, ignoring Glimmer's help. Glimmer pursed her lips and stepped back, letting the brunette push past her.

Adora had climbed out of the boat and was yanking the bag of sleeping bags out of the boat, swinging it over onto her back. She grinned at Glimmer, eyes bright. "She's just grumpy," the blonde said.

Glimmer released a sharp huff. "Sure, yeah, I don't really care."

Adora shot her a knowing look. She poked her finger in between Glimmer's eyebrows. "Then what's this?"

A giggle escaped her and she felt herself relax slightly. She shoved Adora's hand away with a playful scoff.

They made their way up to the campsite, carrying the last canoe with them. Catra was being swarmed by the girls, trying to find her footing again among all the questions and excited chatter, her face still too pale.

Glimmer pushed down the petty feeling rising from the earlier interaction with the girl and jumped in to save her.

"Girls!" she said. "Why don't you set up your tents and put all your stuff in them?"

The grateful half-smile Catra sent her way almost made her annoyance disappear.  _ Almost.  _

***

Adora watched Glimmer pull the girls' attention away from Catra and head over to help them set up their tents with a small smile. She followed to grab the tent that she, Glimmer and Catra would be using.

Glimmer smiled at her and handed her the smaller tent bag. She tucked it under her arm. "Thanks. You good helping the girls on your own?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Glimmer unzipped a tent, pulling the pieces out of the bag. "We have to check in with my dad in a bit."

"I know. We can do it after everything is set up."

Glimmer nodded, straightening up as she connected the tent pole pieces. She handed them off to one of the campers with a warm smile. 

Adora loved that smile. She basked in the warm feeling it provided. 

She hoped that this trip would work its magic and they would all come away feeling better and closer. She hadn't missed Glimmer choosing their favourite campsite. The thought made her smile. 

And maybe things would get better with Catra too. Of course, they were all talking. And things felt better than ever before, but the feeling deep in Adora's stomach wanted more than just tentative peace and awkward teasing. She wanted to fix things. 

And she was letting herself think Catra did too. At least sort of.

"Hey, Adora!"

Catra's voice pulled Adora out of her thoughts. She looked back. 

Catra was standing, hand on her hip, eyebrow arched, over by the firepit. "Are you gonna stand there all day or are you gonna come set up our tent, dummy?"

Adora laughed. It sounded like something Catra would've said when they were kids. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

Adora walked over and tossed the tent bag at Catra. The brunette caught it with a grunt and then dropped it rather unceremoniously onto the ground, kneeling to take everything out. 

Adora grabbed the tent pole and quickly worked to put it together while Catra unrolled the actual tent. It only took about ten minutes for them to throw the tent together, even amid some light teasing and poking with tent pieces.

Glimmer approached them, arms full of sleeping bags. She deposited them into the tent and looked at her watch. "Should we let the girls explore a bit while we get a fire going?"

Adora nodded. "If everything is set up and unpacked, yeah. Tell them to be back in an hour and a half."

Glimmer nodded. Adora turned to Catra with a small grin. "You want to start the fire? You always did it the fastest."

Uncertainty flashed over Catra's face, almost like she was unsure of the familiar tone Adora was using, but she nodded. Pleased with herself, Adora led the way to the firepit, trying not to let the smug feeling show on her face.

Apparently, she was bad at that. According to Glimmer. And Bow. And Catra. And… well, most people.

Catra had knelt down with the bag they had packed the fire supplies into. She rummaged through it for a few seconds before finding the lighter and fire starters. Adora hesitated momentarily before kneeling beside the other girl and pulling out the small hatchet they brought to break up wood.

“I told the girls to grab whatever sticks and wood they could find on their adventures,” came Glimmer’s voice as she approached. Adora glanced up and smiled at her. 

“Well, we still need some sooner than that,” said Catra. 

Glimmer placed an arm on her hip. “Yeah obviously.”

Adora looked between the two, trying to figure out where this new, weird energy had come from. Her brow pinched together, but she brushed it off. It probably wasn’t anything. Catra was grumpy from being sick and they just worked each other up. It was nothing. She stood and spun the axe around in her hands. “We’ll go get some small stuff to work with until the girls come back.”

Glimmer nodded. “Sounds like a plan. C’mon Adora.” She grabbed the blonde’s hand and pulled her in the direction of one of the forest paths.

Adora watched Catra cross her arms and glare at the cold fire pit. She’d have to ask her about it later. About what… she wasn’t entirely sure yet. Turning her attention back to Glimmer, she pushed the thought away.

About twenty feet into the forest, Glimmer let them slow to a more leisurely pace. She relaxed a bit. Adora could see it in the way her shoulders fell a fraction of an inch and in how the lines pinching her features became smooth again. Except for the slightest crinkle in between her brows. That was an obvious tell Adora had learned quickly after they became friends.

She walked slowly beside the smaller girl, painfully aware of their still entangled fingers and arms brushing against each other. The brush of warmth every few seconds felt electric and she couldn’t decide if it was nice or if she should take a moment to reassess before she passed out.

Well, whatever the answer was it made her heart pound.

She looked at Glimmer again, a soft smile pulling at her lips. “We should probably actually get some firewood so Catra doesn’t fight us.”

Glimmer blinked. “Huh? Oh yeah, we should.”

“You okay?” laughed Adora.

“Yeah, I was just thinking.”

“About?”

“I-I’m not sure honestly.” Glimmer grabbed a stick and broke it over her knee into a few different pieces. “Here this’ll work...I guess I was just thinking about if this is weird or not.”

“If what is?”

Glimmer shrugged. “Is it…” her brow knitted together “Is it weird having Catra back in your life?”

Adora blinked. That was not what she expected Glimmer to ask. She opened her mouth and then closed it to think.

Was it?

Yeah...yeah it was. She’d already thought about that. Having Catra back after so many years apart was really strange. Growing up had been hard, but they’d always had each other.

And then they didn’t.

And who’s fault was that?

Adora shook her head, dispelling that train of thought. Now wasn’t the time to deal with  _ that _ .

“It isn’t?”

“What? Oh!” Adora said, scrambling to catch her mouth up to her head. “No no, it’s definitely weird. But it’s… nice? I don’t know how to like-”  _ explain, understand, use a freaking brain cell… _

Glimmer smiled, tucking the wood she had gathered under her arm and placing a gentle hand on Adora’s arm. “You don’t have to explain.” A thoughtful look crossed her face. “I think… I get it? Maybe? I don’t know why I asked.”

Adora frowned.

Before she could say anything, Glimmer added, “I guess I just didn’t realize how big of a part of your life she was. You never talk about your home.”

Adora had begun gathering some wood as they walked. She took the opportunity to turn away before she spoke. “I didn’t think there was much to talk about. It was hard and it sucked and I’ve never regretted leaving.”

“Except?”

“Except I wish Catra had come with me.”

She could feel Glimmer staring at her. She didn’t have to look to know her bottom lip was stuck between her teeth and her brows were drawn together.

“Why didn’t she?”

“I-” she started, turning back to Glimmer. She had been right. She tugged at the bottom of her t-shirt. “I guess she was tired of me expecting her too.”

Silence fell over them. Adora wasn’t sure what else to say. She already felt like she’d said too much. Glimmer just looked thoughtful. And more relaxed. Adora licked her lips. Maybe it was okay. If it made Glimmer feel better than she could talk.

“I don’t know what else you want to know, but,” Adora shuffled nervously, “I can tell you a bit about growing up. If-if you want. I didn’t think you would want to know.”

Glimmer’s face brightened. “Of course I want to know! It’s a part of who you are. Remember when I told you about my dad getting sick when I was younger?”

Adora nodded. “Yeah, you were upset. I’m glad you told me. I was able to help. Kinda.”

“You helped a lot, Adora. You helped me make things better with my mom, even if she’s still… well, you know how she is.” Glimmer cracked a smile. “I want to help you, too. I guess that’s why I asked.”

Warmth bloomed in Adora’s chest at Glimmer’s offer. The other girl’s voice was soft and almost uncertain, but determination pressed through. Adora smiled at her. “I- Thanks, Glim.”

Glimmer blushed. “Of course!” she replied, her voice rising in pitch. “Adora, I-”

“Adora, Adora, Adora!” came the excited voice of one of their campers. “You have to come see this! It’s so cool!”

“Yeah?” Adora said, not taking her eyes off Glimmer who’s expression had turned to something more disappointed. The campers were shouting over each other now, begging Adora to come with them. “I’ll be right there.” She shot an apologetic look Glimmer’s way. “I can go gather everyone while I go. Can you help Catra?”

Glimmer nodded. “Can we talk later?”

“Yeah totally, Glim.” Adora grinned. “I’ll see you on the  _ cliff _ side.”

She jogged after the girls who had called her over, only turning to see Glimmer’s shocked and then outraged expression at her terrible play on words.

***

Catra had managed to gather enough sticks and wood on her own to start a small fire by the time Glimmer returned with a measly amount of wood. Catra was already annoyed that she had let herself get sick in front of  _ basically _ everyone, but especially Adora, and then her and Sparkles had to go and take a million goddamn years to collect wood.

Glimmer looked just as annoyed as Catra felt.

“Did you guys get lost?” Catra threw the words out before noticing a lack of blonde amid the return. “Did you lose Adora in the woods somehow?”

“Ha ha,” Glimmer shot back, dropping the pile of wood she was carrying by the fire pit. “The girls had something they wanted to show her. She said she’d go collect everyone so we can get started on dinner.”

Catra nodded as she picked up a few pieces of the wood and threw it into the pit. She bit back more teasing words sensing Glimmer wasn’t in the mood. They did have to share a tent tonight. No point in pissing each other off further. 

The smaller girl dragged a tree stump over that was resting within a pile of stumps. Clearly they were put there and kept there for that very reason. Glimmer placed it by the slowly growing fire and sat down on it, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand.

Catra watched her carefully, debating whether she should say something. Would that make it worse? Did she care enough to know? It was Glimmer’s problem obviously, not hers. She sighed. Now she sounded like an ass.

She dragged a stump over, placing it on the opposite end of the fire from Glimmer. She sat down and started poking the fire with the stick she had found a little while earlier.

The air was awkward and it made Catra’s skin itch. Glimmer was practically pouting and Catra could not for the life of her think of what could be wrong. But asking felt like too much. Even if it was the same thing Glimmer had asked her not three hours earlier.

This… felt different. 

Glimmer had been teasing her, even if the question was genuine. Her tone had been teasing and the air had been lighter and nothing had happened already that day. Now it just felt…

She knocked over the log cabin structure she’d used to build the fire with her stick. Flames jumped a touch and made their way to the larger surrounding logs. She bit her lip. Glimmer was still staring into the fire with an annoyed look on her face. Catra let out a sigh.

“What’s your problem?”

_ Smooth _ . Catra figured she would be better off turning to dust and getting blown away by the increasingly chilly night air than to ever speak again after she opened her mouth.

Glimmer looked up sharply. “What?”

Catra clenched her jaw. Maybe she could just… “What are you pouting about? You’ve been glaring at the fire for like ten minutes.”

“I’m not pouting.”

“You totally are.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Shut up.”

“What’s wrong?”

Glimmer pressed her lips together into a thin line. Catra looked at her expectantly. Glimmer huffed in annoyance. “I’m just… thinking.”

_ Thinking about what? _ “Well, you’re doing it too loudly.”

“How am I- you can’t think too loudly!”

“You’re doing it right now!”

Catra could see Glimmer’s frustration clear as day. But she also noticed the other girl’s shoulders relax slightly and the wrinkle between her brows smooth out for the first time in what seemed like hours. Was she helping? She didn’t know, but she’d keep doing it until Glimmer told her to stop.

Glimmer was fumbling for an argument.

Catra laughed. “See! You know I’m right! You can’t even argue, Sparkles.”

“You just-” she started and then stopped, lips jutting out in a pout that Catra thought was unfairly cute.

Ignoring that thought, she crossed her arms and sat back as much as she could without an actual back of a seat, a smug grin pulling at her lips. “I just what?”

Glimmer huffed. “You’re the worst.”

“Harsh.”

Sticking her tongue out at Catra, Glimmer moved to throw more wood into the fire. Satisfied with whatever had just happened, Catra went back to poking the embers. They could hear shouting coming from down the path. Adora entered the clearing a few minutes later, campers in tow, grinning and talking excitedly with the young girls.

Catra glanced over, cheeks turning pink when Adora flashed her a goofy smile. She poked the embers harder and her stick snapped. With a frown, she threw it into the fire. It crackled as flames ate up what was left of it. 

Glimmer had gotten up to greet Adora and the girls. They were sorting out dinner plans. She supposed she should help with that. She stood and grabbed the cooking rack, carefully balancing it on the fire.

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” she called over. “Pots, pans, plain fire? What do we need?”

The campers were cheering “s’mores” over and over and Glimmer was trying to explain they had to eat some real food before they could have s’mores. Adora was laughing and naming a few ideas. Catra snorted at their behaviour. 

They finally decided on pasta and sauce. Catra worked to get the fire hot enough for the water to boil while Adora and Glimmer prepped the rest of the food with the help of a couple campers. The rest were sitting around talking, running around playing games or down by the water splashing each other. 

The water still took ages to boil.

Catra was getting frustrated.

“Here, let me-”

“I got it!”

“Clearly you don’t!”

“I  _ said _ I got it, Sparkles.”

Glimmer pouted. “If you just let me-”

Adora pointed. “It’s boiling!”

Catra collapsed onto her back from her kneeling position by the fire. “Finally!”

Adora stood above her, looking down at her face with an amused expression. Catra could feel sweat dripping down her temples into her hair from sitting so close to the fire for so long trying to get it hot enough. Catra wanted to ask what was so funny, but instead just stared dumbly at the blonde, mouth parted and gaze stuck on how blue Adora’s eyes were.

The moment was broken when Glimmer stepped over her prone body to pour an entire bag of pasta into the pot. Catra pushed her hair out of her face, wiping away traces of sweat, and sat up. She crossed her legs and leaned against the stump behind her.

Adora slid down against the stump beside her with a sigh. “Boiling water is always a pain.”

“Yeah,” Catra replied, suddenly very aware of how close Adora was to her. She planted her hands in her lap and picked at the hem of her shorts.

Glimmer was stirring the pasta and humming quietly. Catra noticed Adora looking shyly as the other girl worked, her blue eyes bright and warm. She was greeted with that warmth when Adora glanced her way, goofy smile making its way onto her face. Catra relaxed, shooting a small smile back before standing.

“Where are you going?” asked Adora as Catra made her way toward one of the paths.

Catra waved her off. “Nature calls.”

Adora snorted.

“This is gonna be done in five minutes,” added Glimmer without looking up.

Catra snickered. “Sure thing, princess.”

***

It was nearly eleven when they finally got the campers into their tents and mostly quiet.

After what Catra had described as a painstaking dinner and probably too many s’mores, the girls were finally calm enough for only the occasional giggle or whisper to come from their tents. Glimmer nearly sighed with relief.

She gathered the leftover marshmallows and chocolate chips and graham crackers from around the firepit. The fire was mostly embers at this point, glowing calmly in the cool night. She stuck a marshmallow in her mouth, chewing slowly. 

“You almost ready?”

She looked over to see Adora standing about a foot away. The only light on her face from the moon high above them and the embers burning ever so slightly. She was smiling. Glimmer smiled back.

“Yeah, almost.” She tossed the remaining food into the food barrel and flipped the lid on, locking it. The last thing they wanted was animals coming to destroy and eat all their food. That wouldn’t make for a very good trip.

“Do you-” Adora hesitated, trailing off. 

“Hm?”

“Should we invite Catra?”

Glimmer had a feeling this was coming. She honestly wondered herself. But Adora looked nervous. Glimmer smiled. “Yeah, I kinda figured she would be coming anyway.”

Adora’s face lit up. “Oh?  _ Oh _ , uh, yeah totally. She’s just changing now.”

Glimmer was proud she could surprise Adora with that. She walked toward the blonde, bumping gently into her with a grin. “Come on. It’s later than we thought.”

Adora nodded.

They headed for their tent quietly. Not entirely sure if Catra was finished or not, they shuffled awkwardly outside the tent.

“I’m done,” came the brunette's voice. “Stop standing out there like creeps.”

Glimmer bit back a giggle at the retort. She unzipped the tent and poked her head in. “We were actually wondering if you wanted to come out with us. We always go stargazing over on the ledge. Figured it would be weird if we didn’t invite you.”

Catra looked at her weirdly. “Wow, almost thought you liked me there for a second, Sparkles.”

“Shut up. Are you coming or not?”

Catra hesitated. “Are you sure?”

Glimmer’s heart melted at the vulnerable tone of the question. “Yeah, duh. What, are you scared we’re gonna push you?” she choked out, only half as full of bravado as she planned.

Catra snorted. “Sure whatever. I’ll be out in a second.”

Satisfied, Glimmer zipped the tent closed again. Adora looked hopeful and Glimmer had to put effort into staying upright as the expression melted her once more. She smiled serenely. This would be good.

Weird.

But good.

Catra stepped out of the tent in a sweater with the words “Storm Secondary” scrawled across the front. The sweater was red. She could’ve sworn Adora had a similar one.

Oh wait.

Adora did have that sweater. It was her old high school. Catra’s old high school.

The information threw her for a moment. It was a strange sort of proof of their history. She couldn’t figure out why it was such a strange revelation. It’s not like she didn’t believe them. Believe Adora. It was just…

She shook her head ever so slightly and followed Adora as she led the way to the cliffside.

“Don’t fall this time, princess,” Catra joked.

Glimmer rolled her eyes. “But why when I have you here to catch me.”

The blush that crawled up Catra’s face was incredibly satisfying. “That was a one time offer and you wasted it,” the brunette retorted.

“Guess that’s what Adora is here for then,” grinned Glimmer.

Adora scoffed. “Well, if that’s all I’m good for then I’ll leave you two to it.”

They burst into giggles as they sat down on the edge of the cliff, legs dangling over the rockledge. Adora in the middle of the two.

Adora shushed them. “You’re gonna disturb the girls.”

“Oh, sorry,  _ mom _ ,” Catra snickered.

“You think they’re not still whispering and giggling?” said Glimmer, poking Adora’s cheek.

“No, you know what they’re doing,” Catra cut in, “they’re plotting.”

Adora raised a brow. “Plotting what?”

“Well, a little birdy,” she pretended to cough, “Scorpia,” another cough, “told me that Frosta and Lily are captaining a ship war.”

Glimmer giggled. “For who?”

“The three of us,” Catra said nonchalantly, looking out over the lake, clearly trying to play it off.

Glimmer nearly choked. “Us?”

Adora’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Well, variations of pairings and apparently all three.” Catra snorted. “They’re kids. Let them have their fun.”

Glimmer was shocked. Almost confused. Catra seemed so unphased. Too unphased. She narrowed her eyes. “That’s… Scorpia told you this?”

Catra hummed. 

“Huh,” was all Adora said as she stared intensely out toward the water, clearly deep in thought.

What reason was there to bring this up now? Glimmer pursed her lips. She was pretty sure Catra didn’t know herself. Or maybe she did. Maybe... 

She looked up to the sky. Stars were covering the sky. They always looked bigger and brighter out here. Shining bright as the moon sometimes. They twinkled prettily through the sky. She blinked. They needed a subject change. She couldn’t think of anything. She fumbled for words. Catra couldn’t just hit them with such an oddly specific and weird piece of… well, of camp gossip basically.

“Catra?”

It was Adora asking.

The brunette hummed.

“Did you ever think we’d see each other again?”

_ Very tactful _ , Glimmer thought, huffing sharply as she stifled her laugh. 

Catra tensed. Glimmer could see it from where she sat.

“No,” she whispered, her voice being carried over the water by the wind.

Adora stayed silent.

Glimmer bit back her own questions, hesitating. Adora said she would tell her some things, but she didn’t think that meant with Catra there. But then maybe, just maybe, she could learn something about Catra too. She was burning with curiosity.

“Why didn’t you come to Brightmoon Academy with Adora?”

The words left her mouth before she could stop them.

Catra clenched her jaw. “Hardly any of your business, is it?”

Adora was waiting with baited breath.

Glimmer shrugged. “No, you’re right. I just-” she paused. “I guess I’m just trying to figure you out.”

“Have fun with that.”

Adora licked her lips. “Do-did you know I didn’t want to leave?”

Catra perked up slightly. Now Glimmer was waiting with baited breath.

“I never-” Adora sucked in a deep breath. “I never wanted to leave you behind. I-I accepted the offer at Brightmoon because I thought I could find a way to…” she paused, “I thought I could protect you.”

“I didn’t need you to protect me,” muttered Catra.

“I thought you did,” Adora said, leaning back onto her hands and looking up at the sky. “I promised to protect you. When we were kids.”

“You promised to not leave me behind.”

“I know.”

Catra huffed. “I never wanted a hero, Adora. I just wanted a friend. I don’t get why that’s so hard for you to get through your head.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

Glimmer wasn’t sure if or how she should respond. She watched the two girls carefully. Adora’s brow was furrowed and Catra had pulled her knees to her chest and was resting her arms crossed over them, chin resting on them. 

She knew there was a lot she didn’t know. And a lot she didn’t understand. But she just wanted to help. 

(Although the irony of getting stuck in the middle of another serious conversation between the two didn’t fly over her head.)

“What was camp like at the Fright Zone?” she asked, hoping maybe it would lead to some enlightening, but also lighter conversations.

A small smile dawned on Adora’s face. “It was different than here, but we had fun, right Catra?”

Catra’s usual smirk pulled at the frown on her face. “Sure, we did. It was still summer camp. And we spent the entirety of every summer there. We found our fair share of trouble.”

“Like dunking Octavia in paint and blaming it on Kyle?”

Catra snickered. “How could I forget that? She chased us to the other side of camp before giving up.”

“We  _ barely _ made it too.”

“Yeah, only because  _ someone’s  _ too slow to keep up.”

“How is it my fault you’re faster than me?”

“It’s not, it’s just fun to point out.”

Adora lightly smacked Catra’s shoulder. “Did you ever put it to any use?”

“Yeah, actually,” Catra said, sobering a bit. “Joined track after you left. Figured if I wanted to go to school or have literally any chance of leaving, I should work on some sort of easy scholarship.”

“Easy, she says,” Glimmer cut in with a giggle, “like getting a sports scholarship is easy.”

“Well it wasn’t  _ hard _ ,” shot back Catra. “I just had to actually do things. Like not fail my classes and get kicked off the team.”

Adora snorted. “Wow that must’ve been hard for you.”

“Shut up!”

Glimmer had been successful in her attempt to lighten the mood. Thank God. She could wait a while longer to talk to Adora about things if it meant all of them getting along for this trip. And in general. And if it meant the other two continued to smile like they were. Bright and warm and noticeable as the stars dotting the night sky.

Glimmer smiled. Adora looked at her with bright eyes and a wide grin. It sent butterflies spiralling through her. Catra’s eyes were closed as she cackled at something Adora had said. She looked more relaxed than she had all day. It made Glimmer weirdly happy.

They stayed out for a while longer, giggling and talking about various things. Glimmer talked a bit about her parents. Her dad’s wild cooking and her mom’s ridiculous planning. She talked about how she met Bow and listened to Catra and Adora recount the disastrous first time they met at age four.

Catra yawned. “I think I’m gonna call it a night. You coming?”

Glimmer looked to Adora who had a gentle expression, eyes wide and mouth parted in a soft smile. Glimmer bit the inside of her cheek. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

With a nod and a stretch, Catra headed off toward the tent. “Don’t be too long, I’m not gonna be the first one up.”

“We know!” Glimmer and Adora replied simultaneously before breaking out into giggles.

When they no longer heard Catra shuffling around in their tent, they looked at each other.

“So what-”

“Adora I-”

Another burst of laughter erupted from them before they were shushing each other, trying not to disturb the campers or Catra. When they finally calmed down enough to speak again, Glimmer said, “Do we wanna talk now or do we wanna go to sleep before it’s even later than it already is?”

“I want to ta-” a yawn escaped the blonde before she could stop it. Glimmer shot her a look to which she waved a hand, pushing the notion off. “I’m fine, I’ll be fine. We keep getting interrupted. Now is as good a time as any.”

“Okay, you’re right,” said Glimmer. “Soooo?”

Adora giggled. “Would you like some big confession or do you just want me to acknowledge what everyone seems to already know?”

“Not everybody knows!”

Adora looked amused. Okay, maybe a lot of people knew.

Glimmer sighed, slumping down against Adora’s chest. The blonde held them up with one arm, the other tentatively circling around Glimmer’s waist. This wasn’t abnormal for them. Glimmer liked the closeness with her friends and they always found themselves in some sort of cuddle pile.

But now it felt like a big deal. Glimmer could feel her heart racing as Adora absent-mindedly fiddled with the hem of her tank top, fingers brushing bare skin accidentally every few seconds.

“The stars are great tonight,” Glimmer said. “We didn’t appreciate them enough.” She could feel Adora looking at her.

Adora hummed. “Glim?”

Glimmer looked up. Their faces were inches apart. Glimmer could smell campfire if she was close enough to the blonde. She’d already done this once before. In Adora’s tiny, white cinderblock dorm room. That was nearly two months ago now.

“Can I-”

Glimmer nodded. Adora grinned, moving to close the space between them. Glimmer’s heart was racing and she felt like she was going to explode. Her eyes slid shut seconds before--

A high-pitched shriek rang out from one of the tents.

Adora spun her head around, instantly tensing with concern. Glimmer frowned, her own gaze drifting toward the source of the yell, squeezing Adora’s hand. Muttering a quick apology, Adora untangled herself from Glimmer. “I-I should go see what that was. Probably just one of the girls.”

Glimmer nodded dumbly, struggling to find words. “I’ll be there in a second,” she finally choked out. She wanted to scream too. 

Nodding, apology hanging in her gaze, Adora turned and jogged down to the campsite. Glimmer watched her go, heart pounding. She wiped her palms on her shorts, sighing heavily.

What was it she said a few weeks earlier? About the universe?

Oh yeah, it hated her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a ride, my God. I've been insanely busy with school and yet this is the longest chapter so far. But on that note, I'm aiming for every two weeks now for chapters because school is killing me slowly. I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for reading! And thanks for nearly 200 kudos <3


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> construction paper schemes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm tired of looking at this so here you go ;-;

Adora rifled through the bottom of her sleeping bag, trying to find her toothpaste and hairbrush. Her hair was loose and golden strands hung in her eyes. She huffed sharply in an attempt to brush off the ticklish feeling it gave her.

Throwing down her sleeping bag with a frustrated sigh as she came up empty-handed she looked around the tent. "Glim?" she called out. "Where's my backpack?"

Glimmer's melodic voice floated into the tent from outside. "It's out here!"

"You're lucky it didn't get rained on," Catra added. Adora smiled at the laughter in her voice. She unzipped the tent and climbed out.

Catra was holding her bag up with a smirk while Glimmer helped some of the girls make breakfast. Adora was one of the only people even kind of dressed. She'd slipped into a pair of light grey shorts, a white t-shirt (Glimmer told her it was going to get stained but she had shrugged her off), and she had thrown on her red raincoat in light of the grey skies and mist hanging over the lake.

Glimmer had  _ borrowed _ (stolen) Adora's light blue Brightmoon Football hoodie the night before after complaining she was cold. Catra had grabbed it from the tent floor and thrown it in her face with a grumpy  _ hmph _ and  _ go to sleep. _

The crimson Storm Secondary sweater Catra had on from the previous night brought back memories and feelings Adora forgot she had. She bit her cheek and took the bag from Catra. "Thanks. I'll be back out in a second."

Catra nodded, smirking playfully. It was a stark contrast to the terror coating her features when Adora investigated the reason behind the scream that interrupted some important confessions.

To be fair, it really was a big spider.

Adora smiled at Catra. Glimmer caught her eye before she went back into the tent, smiling shyly. Warmth bloomed in Adora’s chest as she unzipped the tent and climbed back inside, yanking the zipper closed once more.

She flipped her backpack, dumping it out. An assortment of clothes, camping supplies, and toiletries fell out. She spotted Glimmer's ring tumbling off the pile and hiding under a sleeping bag. She scooped it up, admiring the smooth white-pink moonstone it held wrapped in silver, before tucking it into the front pocket of the backpack. She wouldn't dare lose it. Even after telling Glimmer time and time again that it would make more sense to leave it at camp. Glimmer had just shrugged and tucked it into the bag as they were leaving.

Adora sighed as she finally spotted her hairbrush. She grabbed it and quickly worked her hair into her usual ponytail. She threw it into the bag and looked at the mess she had made. Kind of counterproductive… she started gathering everything, shoving it back into the backpack. Still no toothpaste. She frowned.

A flash of yellow caught her eye. She picked up a folded piece of yellow construction paper.

"What's this…" she muttered. Her eyes widened when she turned it over and her gaze fixated on her name messily scrawled on it.

She unfolded the paper.

_ Meet me at the rock ledge tonight. After everyone's gone to sleep. _

Confusion filled her. This had to be a joke… right? She turned the yellow construction paper over a few times. It wasn't Glimmer's handwriting. She'd know the other girl's swoopy letters anywhere. And even then, why would Glimmer leave a note?

Her thoughts strayed back to the plotting Catra had noticed among the campers. Could this just be one of their schemes? It seemed likely. But then what was the point? And who was the other victim?

Adora's brow pinched. Glimmer would say something if she also got a note. Catra was smart enough to figure out who it was from. Probably.

She looked over the paper one last time before shoving it into the pocket of her rain jacket. That was… later--she'd think about that later.

She finished tidying the tent, trying to ignore the racing thoughts and pounding heart the note had provoked. It was just a dumb joke. No one would be at the rock ledge later that night. She'd bet her dish duty shifts that no one else even got a note and it was just an unsuccessful scheme from the kids.

Right?

She bit her lip. What if one of the other two did get a note? Or both? Adora flushed at the idea. The prospect of being  _ tricked _ into an obvious scheme with both the other girls made her feel like she was on fire. She could hardly handle getting one girl. There was no point in entertaining--

Entertaining what exactly?

Adora shook her head in an attempt to dispel the thought and calm the pounding in her ears. Nothing. Entertaining nothing.

Still, she paused. Maybe… she should at least mention the note to them? Would that be weird? Would they want to know?

Her heart was racing again. She didn't think she wanted to solidify what they were really only joking about the previous night. Campers picking counsellors to play matchmaking (is that what this was?) games was normal. It happened every summer. It's not like… well, Glimmer… and maybe…

"Toothpaste! I forgot about the toothpaste." She could feel her face burn as she realized she said the words out loud in her attempt to stop the derailment of her thoughts. She wet her lips. Her mouth felt dry.

It was too early in the morning for this. Even for her.

She scanned the tent again. In the corner, she spotted the bright blue bottle of toothpaste. Must have gotten tossed there the night before.

She grabbed it, tossing her bag into the corner where it was, and stood to exit the tent again. She stumbled out of the tent, nearly tripping this time.

When she straightened up with a huff, Catra shot her a strange look. She waved her off and forced a grin, knowing full well that neither Catra or Glimmer would believe it. That alone made her stomach do backflips. 

Catra seemed to consider before letting it slide. Adora released a quiet sigh of relief and headed over to talk to Glimmer. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her raincoat to stop herself from wringing her hands together.

Glimmer grinned at her and started talking about breakfast, among a few other things. Adora tried to focus, but found her thoughts straying again. She kept stealing glances at Catra who was rocking back on one of the tree stump seats, talking to Frosta and Lily.

She felt a squeeze on her wrist. She looked back to Glimmer who had a concerned look on her face. The pink-haired girl reached her hand up to brush her fingers on Adora's cheek. "You okay?"

"Hm?" Adora hummed, leaning into the soft touch. "Me? Yeah, I'm okay."

Glimmer's brow pinched. "You seem preoccupied."

Adora turned the yellow paper over with her fingers, hidden deep in her pocket.

"Nah, I'm just tired."

"You sure?"

Adora looked at Glimmer softly. "Yeah, I'm sure," she replied with a sheepish smile.

A nod had Glimmer changing the subject, but the pinch in her brow had returned. Adora frowned.

The paper flipped between her fingers too easily now.

Later. She'd think about it later.

Her fingers continued to move nimbly and her thoughts continued to race.

Later.

***

The entire island was a lot bigger than it looked. You could wander for hours. And every time they came back they always found even more new spots with cool views and crumbling forts built by kids years before.

The entire lake had a variety of summer homes and cottages on its shorelines so it was hard to guess if the traces of people left on each island, at every campsite, were from the campers every summer or kids whose families had owned land in the area for decades. 

Adora knew that realistically anything from generations before, no matter how sturdy these things were, would have fallen apart and been washed away by time, but that never stopped her from listening to Glimmer's wild stories about whatever they found. She knew they were mostly for camper benefit, something to pass the time and make every spot interesting. The light in her eyes everytime she told the stories made them feel like maybe if she thought about it hard enough and long enough maybe they were true.

At least she could think about that instead of the yellow construction paper she was still turning over methodically in her pocket.

She supposed it was later now.

But watching Glimmer talk and Catra play with the girls made her want to ignore it. They were both having fun! She could hardly interrupt that with her own anxieties. Even if it was relevant to one of them. Or both. She still didn't know.

It also wasn't helping that she'd definitely twisted her ankle weirdly when they were climbing. 

It didn't hurt  _ that  _ bad. It probably would go away in a few hours. She hoped. It was only day two of trip. She couldn't bear the idea of not being able to do everything with them.

She winced as she leaned too heavily on her left side.  _ Bad idea bad idea bad idea _ .

Somehow, she'd managed to get a paper cut from all her fidgeting too. She bit the inside of her cheek. Her hand stung, her ankle throbbed and her head was pounding from all of it  _ and _ the added anxiety of the stupid note.

Why couldn't she just let it go? It really wasn't a big deal. She should feel great. Especially after the night before. The interruption hadn't been ideal but… it was out there now. It made her feel better. And based on most of the interactions (the bolder affection and touches and the secretive smiles between activities with the campers) Glimmer seemed to feel better about it too.

But she still couldn't shake this nagging feeling that there was still something missing. Something was going to happen. And she wasn't stupid enough to rule out whatever their campers seemed to be orchestrating.

Man, this summer wasn't supposed to be this complicated. 

She hadn't realized how caught up in her thoughts she'd been until Catra was waving a hand in front of her face. 

"Hey Adora?"

She blinked. "Huh?"

Catra leaned back, seeming to realize how close she had gotten to the blonde, and crossed her arms. "Care to join us in the land of the living?" she teased.

Adora rolled her eyes with a grin. "Sorry just thinking."

Catra snorted. "Thinking huh? Been doing a lot of that."

"You say that like I didn't before."

"You're too quiet about it now."

Adora paused on that. It was said with such familiarity that she couldn't quite figure out how to respond without the possibility of making it weird and pushing Catra further away  _ again. _

Luckily, she didn't have to respond. Not when her foot caught on a branch she hadn't noticed sticking out and sent her sailing forward, landing  _ way too hard _ on her foot. Shooting pain rocketed up her leg and she crumpled into herself with a hiss of pain.  _ Shit _ .

Catra had jumped forward with a look of concern. "Adora! Are you okay?" Her eyes were wide.

Adora winced and tried to push the other girl's hands away. "I'm fine, I'm fine." She grit her teeth. "Just-gimme a sec."

Catra's brow pinched. "Adora, I swear to God if you're minimizing your injuries again I'll-"

"Catra, I'm fine!" exasperated the blonde. It really wasn't a big deal. "I just twisted my ankle a bit earlier. Nothing to worry about. It just hurts a little."

"You hurt yourself and you didn't say anything?" exclaimed Catra in a hushed tone, not wanting to concern the girls. "It doesn't seem like nothing. You're  _ still _ wincing."

"I am not!"

"You are!"

Adora frowned. "It's fine." She pushed Catra back again and forced herself to stand, hopping slightly on her better foot before settling her weight on both feet and…

_ Damn _ . She'd definitely made it worse. She nearly released another hiss of pain, biting her tongue to stop it. She didn't want anyone to make a big thing of it. She could manage.

Catra didn't look convinced. In fact, she looked thoroughly unimpressed.

Adora looked at her. "What?"

Catra ignored her and instead said, "Hey princess, can I talk to you?"

Glimmer looked back from the top of the path with a confusion expression. Her cheeks tinged pink when the campers giggled at the nickname use. The giggles made Adora's cheeks sting too.

Catra stood arms crossed once more as Glimmer walked over to them, leaving the campers to their explorations. One look at Adora had her asking, "What's wrong?" with a concerned expression.

Adora nearly pouted. This wasn't fair. It really hadn't been that big of a deal. "I'm-"

"Adora hurt her ankle and shouldn't be hiking," Catra cut in before Adora could finish her denial.

"Catra!"

Glimmer's brows knit together with more concern. "Why didn't you say anything?"

The soft look in her eyes almost stopped Adora's protests in their tracks. Not quite though. "It's really not that bad. I'm fine. We can keep going."

"I'll walk her back to camp," Catra said. "We'll start on dinner and at the very least she can take an Advil if she refuses to let me actually look at her ankle."

Glimmer bit her lip. "I can-"

Catra put up a hand. "I got it, Sparkles. You keep the kids in line." She smirked.

Glimmer looked like she wanted to protest, but instead she nodded. She grabbed Adora's hand and squeezed. "Just… tell us next time. Please?"

Adora smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, Glim. Sorry."

"It's okay!" Glimmer said warmly. "Don't apologize please. Just promise you'll let Catra look and make sure it's not serious."

"Okay yeah," Adora agreed.

"Alright, stop being so sweet," Catra said, making a sour face. "Gonna make me sick again. C'mon Adora, let's go."

Glimmer stuck her tongue out at Catra. "Make sure she stays in one piece."

Catra saluted playfully. "Will do."

Adora's heart fluttered.

There was too much to think about.

***

It was great to see that old habits really did die hard.

Catra watched Adora try to hide her limping and annoyed expressions in response to her own pain. It was nearly painful to watch. It didn't help that this was entirely nostalgic for her. For them.

Yes, she was concerned. No, she wasn't surprised. 

Adora had never been forthcoming about injuries, always opting to deal with it on her own. Even though it was incredibly stupid. And frustrating. 

But it seemed Adora had never stopped.

(Catra would never forget the  _ two weeks _ she had hid her bruised ribs in their first year of high school.)

They'd reached the campsite again and Adora collapsed onto one of the makeshift stools with a relieved sigh. Catra laughed. "Not that bad, huh?"

Adora stuck her tongue out. 

Catra just laughed again and waved her off. "Don't move. I'm grabbing the first aid kit."

Adora frowned.

"You can't argue with me on this."

"I didn't say anything!"

"Didn't need to."

Adora huffed.

Catra snickered and headed for their tent. "Where did we put that thing anyway?"

"Didn't you shove it into your bag after Lily burnt her finger?"

Catra nodded, mostly to herself. Her bag was in the tent. She grabbed it and unzipped the big pocket. Right on top of the first aid kit was a small piece of blue paper. She blinked.

Picking it up and unfolding it, she released a slow exhale. It had obviously been placed in a way that was conspicuous. Otherwise she would've thought nothing of it.

_ Meet me at the rock ledge tonight. After everyone's gone to sleep. _

Catra nearly scoffed. There was no way this could be anyone other than their meddling campers. Probably Frosta. What exactly were they up to?

Obviously someone else had to have gotten a note as well. And there were only two people it could possibly be.

But which one?

Catra nearly jumped out of her skin when Adora called from outside the tent.

"Did you find it?"

"Wha-Oh. Yeah one sec!"

Adora made a sound of acknowledgment. Catra stared at the note, trying to think for a second. Should she mention it to Adora? The idea made her feel weird. Okay maybe not. She didn't want to deal with whatever overbearing reaction Adora would have right now. She shoved the note into the front pocket of her bag and grabbed the first aid kit.

Adora was still sitting on the stool, trying to hide her pained expression. Catra scoffed. "Alright, you can quit it now. Let me see."

Catra kneeled in front of the other girl, gently grabbing her foot, gently prodding around her ankle. Adora let out another hiss of pain when she poked a particularly sensitive spot.

She had definitely sprained it. But if they could get her to stay off her feet for the most part until tomorrow then they wouldn't have to worry much for the rest of trip.

Catra grabbed the tension bandage out of the kit. She nudged Adora's shoe and sock off and then quickly wrapped her ankle. When she finished, she leaned back in satisfaction and looked at Adora. "Nothing crazy. Just stay off it mostly until tomorrow. You always healed way too quickly."

Adora snickered. "Healing abilities?"

"You wish!" Catra said, standing again. "Then I wouldn't have to keep patching you up. Thought maybe you'd gained a brain cell when you left."

Adora grinned widely. "Sorry to disappoint. I thought you liked patching me up."

"Oh is that what my constant complaining told you?"

"I mean when you weren't complaining or injuring me further-"

Catra punched her in the shoulder.

"That's what I mean!"

"Shut up!"

Adora laughed. "You like doing it."

"Which part?"

"Patching me up obviously. Why do you think I was always getting hurt?"

"You're such an idiot," groaned Catra. "I know you're kidding but I can't believe you."

"At least I was always your idiot."

Catra choked on her own air. Why did Adora have to--  _ what?  _ She was suddenly aware of how fast her heart was racing. How was she supposed to even respond to that?? She blinked. Adora looked like she wanted to take it back as she watched Catra with a look tinged with concern.

It was kinda cute.

Okay, shoving those feelings all the way  _ away _ . Catra licked her lips. "Yeah well, still an idiot."

Adora's laugh sounded so relieved that Catra thought she might just collapse right there. Why did every conversation make things even weirder than they already were?

Adora moved to stand. Catra pushed her back down by her shoulders. "No way. Did you not hear a single thing I said?"

"I heard you call me an idiot." She shot Catra a goofy grin, her gaze daring her to argue.

Catra rolled her eyes. "You're staying here until Sparkles gets back with the girls."

"But what about dinner?"

"I can handle starting dinner, dummy."

"But-"

"Hey Adora?"

"Yeah?"

" _ No _ ."

Adora crossed her arms, a pout hanging off her lips. Catra just laughed at her poor attempt to persuade her.

Catra wandered over to their cooking stuff and began pulling out whatever they'd need for dinner that night. Her thoughts wandered back to the note sitting in the bottom of her bag as she and Adora continued to volley playful insults that eventually devolved into remembering old inside jokes between each other.

The note was very clearly part of some scheme. That much was obvious. She still knew Adora's writing. And why would Glimmer leave a note to  _ her? _ And the paper was probably one of the scrap papers from A&C.

It was nothing. Even if there was a conversation to have (which there isn't obviously), Catra wasn't planning on having it instigated by a group of meddling twelve year olds.

She was almost relieved when Glimmer showed up with the campers. Despite the long day of hiking and exploring they were as energetic as ever and Catra was glad to have the distraction.

By the time bed time rolled around, they'd managed to tire the girls out enough for a pretty quiet night. They spent a few hours around the fire chatting, sharing stories and singing a couple songs. Glimmer had brought one of the music area's ukuleles and they had all given it a spin--even Catra who spent the entire song ignoring Adora's knowing looks and Glimmer's flushed face.

Glimmer was leaning tiredly against Adora, eyes drooping. Catra let them stay sitting by the fire as she told the girls it was time for bed. She ushered them into their tents, wishing everyone a good night. She always felt weirdly in her element with the girls. Adora always liked to tease her about her soft spot for kids. She just blushed and continued doing what she was doing.

When she got back to the campfire, Glimmer was asleep. Catra couldn’t help but think she looked a little cute tucked into Adora’s arms, eyes closed and mouth parted the slightest bit as she breathed steadily. Not that she’d ever admit to thinking that. As a matter of fact, that thought got tucked away with all the other ones she didn’t want to think about.

“You wanna head to bed?” asked Catra.

Adora nodded. She looked down at Glimmer, her gaze soft. “I don’t want to wake her.”

“Well we can’t stay out here all night.”

“Yeah.”

After a few moments of awkward silence, Adora gently shook Glimmer awake. The smaller girl blinked a few times, humming warmly. “Did I fall asleep?” she mumbled.

Adora giggled. “Yeah, not for long though. We’re gonna head to bed, okay?”

Glimmer nodded and sat up, stretching out her legs and arms before standing. She smiled sleepily at Catra. Catra just felt her face get hot. After returning a small smile, she spun around and headed for the tent.

After they all changed into warmer clothes to sleep in, they crawled into their sleeping bags. Glimmer was asleep again within minutes. Out of the corner of her eye, Catra watched Adora brush pink strands of hair out of her eyes with a soft expression. 

Catra stared up at the top of the tent. She couldn’t see much in the dark. Not that the top of the tent was all that interesting. Her thoughts wandered back to the note again.

It was night now. Everyone was sleeping. Or pretending to.

So what did that mean?

Nothing, she insisted to herself. She knew it was just a ploy by their campers for the three of them to… well, she wasn’t going to say it. And currently all three of them were laying  _ way _ too close together in their tiny, tiny tent.

She closed her eyes, rolling over so her back was to Adora and tried to sleep. Frustration continued to build when sleep failed to come to her. The tents were quiet. The only sounds were their breathing and the frogs and crickets making their usual chorus of nighttime noise.

Her heart jumped into her throat when Adora shifted beside her. The blonde crawled out of her sleeping bag, stood quietly and left the tent. Catra pretended she was asleep until she could no longer hear Adora’s footsteps. Where was she going?

The blue construction paper note invaded her thoughts once more.

She shoved it away in annoyance. She was being ridiculous. Adora was probably just going to the washroom. She’d be back soon and she could stop thinking so hard about it.

Ten minutes passed.

Then twenty.

Catra shoved her face into her makeshift pillow with a groan. This was ridiculous. She should just go to sleep. There was no way… Adora couldn’t possibly be… 

With another annoyed huff, Catra got up to investigate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading as always! This chapter was meh to me and a lot shorter than I wanted but school has taken a metal baseball bat to my mental health and motivation so its kinda expected. But I'm really excited for what I have planned so sit tight ;) Next chapter should hopefully be out in two weeks, but we'll see if school is still school at that point lol
> 
> Also over 200 kudossssss WHAT thank you guys so much! <3


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra opens up on more than one account; Glimmer just wants to talk; Adora gets a little stuck in her head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got ahead of myself and finished early so here you go :)

Catra shouldn't have been surprised to find Adora sitting on the rock ledge.

She paused for a moment and just watched. Adora wasn't facing the campsite like she expected. Instead she was leaning comfortably back on her hands staring up at the night sky. Catra couldn't see her face but she looked relaxed, her shoulders lacking the usual uptight tension. Her legs were dangling off the edge and Catra imagined she was swinging them back and forth rather childishly. She always had to be moving in some way. It reminded Catra of their own late night adventures back when they were kids.

Her heart was racing. For what reason exactly she couldn't figure out. Or at least she didn't want to think about it too hard. That would just make this weirder—harder.

Why was she even out here? She should just go to bed. Adora would wait and see nobody came and then nothing would come of it. But was that what she wanted? What either of them wanted? Adora came out here for a reason. And Catra knew she was smart enough to figure out the plot their campers had come up with so she couldn't be walking blind into what felt like a trap. Adora would never. So what was the reason?

Biting the inside of her cheek, Catra pushed away her doubts. She was out here already. Might as well get Adora to come back to the tent. She shivered. It was strangely cold tonight.

She hugged herself and headed up toward the rock ledge. Adora didn't say anything as Catra sat down beside her. The only indication that she noticed being the short glance her way before she looked at the sky again. It wasn’t what Catra was expecting. She looked at Adora, head tilted. 

"So we really listened to a bunch of twelve year olds, didn't we?"

Adora laughed, turning to look at Catra. "Yeah, I guess we did, huh."

"And it's cold."

"It is."

"Sooo? Can we go back to the tent?"

Adora licked her lips. Catra's gaze held on to the movement before she angrily forced it toward the lake. The water was choppy. Nothing like the calm, glassy surface they had sat above the night before. She briefly wondered if it would storm. 

"We-" Adora started before pursing her lips and stopping the words in their tracks. Contemplation danced across her face. She opened her mouth and then closed it again, still not looking at Catra. 

Catra looked at her curiously. She didn't say anything, scared she'd rip something open she didn't want to. Her heart was racing again. She could feel it beating in her ears, louder than even the wind pulling at the waves below them. 

Adora shifted and looked at her. Her gaze had Catra's cheeks stinging crimson. It was determined, but soft. It was how she always looked after a particularly bad run in with the other foster kids or their foster mom.

It was a look that made her feel safe. And angry. And stuck. And-and-

She was ripped out of her thoughts by Adora's voice.

"What do you think we'd be doing right now if I hadn't left?"

Anger and comfort battled in the pit of her stomach as Catra nearly choked on the question. "What's with all the contemplative questions?"

Adora shoved her shoulder. "I'm being serious!"

"Why so serious?" mocked Catra in a drawn out voice, using her fingers to pull at the corners of her mouth as she spoke.

"Shut up!"

"You make it so easy though."

"Answer the question."

Catra huffed. "You're no fun."

"Catra c'mon…" Adora looked at her expectantly, amusement mingling with the determination.

With a sigh, Catra ran a hand through her hair and tried to think. "God, I don't know! I never let myself think about it."  _ It hurt too much. _

Adora bit her lip. Catra wanted to reach out and run her thumb over the other girl’s cheek, but held her hand fixed at her side.

"We certainly wouldn't be here right now." She looked at the blonde again. "Sitting on a ledge at one o'clock in the morning because a bunch of Brightmoon brats told us to."

Adora snorted. "Yeah maybe not. I'm sure the Fright Zone kids would've been less tame."

"So you think we'd still have a bunch of kids playing matchmaker?"

Adora flushed. "Well, I don't know. Maybe. Kids, yknow?"

Catra swallowed down any rising questions. "We certainly wouldn't have Sparkles passed out in our tent missing out on this clearly riveting prank."

Adora's expression shifted like she had just remembered why they were out here. "Yeah, it would be different."

"Bad different?"

"Do you really want to still be stuck there? Like just all of those places?” asked Adora. She paused, hesitating and looking away as she added, “Isn't it better that the Fright Zone closed?"

Catra swallowed nervously. "It would've been okay if you'd still been there."

Adora’s gaze was on her again. "But I wasn't."

"And who's fault is that?" She felt hot. What was she supposed to say?

"So you would rather we had both been stuck there because we'd have each other?"

Catra bristled. "Wouldn't you?" she asked defensively.

Adora thought about it for a few minutes. Catra watched her, heart pounding in her ears again. She could feel herself getting angry again. And why shouldn't she be? Adora was the one acting like her leaving hadn't been the most crushing thing in Catra's life. Fifteen years old and she would've traded everything she'd managed to do in the time since if she could've done it all with Adora by her side.

_ You could've gone with her _ . Catra angrily shoved that voice away. No, she couldn't have.

Adora seemed to finally come up with an answer.

"No," she said slowly. "I had to leave. I-I wish you had come with me, but you're right. If I hadn't left, you wouldn't have done it yourself. You needed to do it on your own. And my being there was stopping you."

"You could've stayed. I wanted you to stay."

"I wanted you to come with me."

Catra pressed her lips together, releasing an angry huff through her nose. "We keep having this conversation."

"Yeah, we do."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to understand why I left. I don't- I never-" she scrambled to find the right words. Catra's heart fluttered at the familiar mannerisms. Wide eyes, flustered gestures, pinched brow.

Suddenly she was saying something she wasn’t even sure she wanted to say. "Do you wanna know why I've never liked the water?"

Adora paused. "What?"

"The water. I never liked it, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Remember that day at camp when we were like six? You were sick. So I went to swimming by myself."

Adora looked confused. "I think?"

"I-" Catra hesitated. Why was she telling her this now? "My therapist said I blocked it out or something dumb, I don't know." She exhaled a nervous laugh. She couldn't look at Adora. This was so dumb. "I almost drowned? I think? It's still fuzzy. But I remember Weaver not doing shit. Looking and looking the other way. Bunch of the older kids had those dumb floaties… I couldn't- they were in the way… it-" she shuddered. "I don't know. Guess that's why though. According to the lady who gets to pick my brain once a week during the school year."

Adora's lips parted as she released the breath she was holding. "That's why you refused to come boating with me the next day. You wouldn't go near the water for weeks."

"You finally convinced me to go canoeing if you didn't tip the boat."

"I remember that!"

"You never tipped the boat. We were six. You didn't tip the boat and then you left."

Adora worried her bottom lip.

Catra felt nauseous again. This was sappy and gross and  _ why was she still talking _

"Scorpia tipped the boat a week later," she said with a broken laugh. 

Adora's laugh was awkward, but it sounded like Adora always did. Awkward, but endearing.

Catra skin prickled. "Yeah, so that's why you and Sparkles can't convince me to go skinny dipping or whatever she's so damn insistent on."

After a moment of stunned silence, Adora burst into laughter. "You can't just end that there!"

Catra snickered. "Why not?"

"Because!"

"But it's so fun to see you get mad about it."

Adora rolled her eyes. "You suck."

Catra shrugged. "Worth it."

"Thanks for telling me," she replied more softly. 

Catra angled herself away slightly, cheeks flushing hot again. "Sure whatever."

"So what do you think the kids thought would happen tonight?" teased Adora.

Catra scoffed. "Probably some dumb confession so they could move on to me and the princess of Brightmoon."

"Dumb confession, huh?" giggled Adora.

"Shut up!" 

Adora grinned. "Defensive today."

Catra reached over to punch her in the shoulder, but Adora scrambled away, laughing the whole time.

"Get back here," exclaimed Catra, a grin slowly making its way over her own face.

Adora had stood and dodged Catra's playful swipes. "You sure there's nothing you wanna tell me?" she teased.

Catra stuck her tongue out. "What's there to say? Are you looking for some heartbroken confession that I loved you? Seems awfully full of yourself."

Her tone was teasing, but something in the pit of her stomach made it feel too real. The second-too-long pause sent panic rocketing through her. She was going to backtrack when Adora called her out.

"Awful specific for something apparently so narcissistic," she snickered. She was smiling.

Catra's heart jumped into her throat. She felt lightheaded.  _ This is exactly what their scheming campers wanted _ . 

"Yeah, well maybe-"

"Adora? Catra?"

Glimmer stood rubbing sleep out of her eyes a few feet away. Her hair was stuck up in a few different directions and sleep still clung heavily to her eyes. She was shivering. The gentle, but concerned look she was sending their way made Catra feel even more lightheaded. 

Adora glanced at her, eyes widening. "Oh Glimmer! What're you doing up?"

Glimmer wrapped her arms around herself and looked at the blonde. "It was cold. And you guys were gone."

Catra's heart fluttered.

"We just got talking," Adora explained.

Glimmer nodded, but Catra wasn’t sure she even cared.. "It's late and cold. Come back to the tent."

The words were directed at Adora. Catra stood frozen as Adora walked over and wrapped an arm around Glimmer with a nod. Glimmer paused and looked at Catra. "You too, Catra."

Butterflies. Stupid butterflies.

Catra nodded.

***

Glimmer woke up early the next morning squished in between Catra and Adora. Her cheek was flush against Adora's arm and she could feel Catra curled up behind her, warm breath on the back of her neck. Adora was sprawled out beside them, the arm Glimmer had been using as a pillow stretched out, fingers tangling in Catra's hair ever so slightly.

It was cute.

Glimmer's face burned as she sat up, blinking away any last traces of sleep. She glanced at the other two girls, trying to fight off the cascade of butterflies she'd woken up to. Adora's mouth was hanging open slightly, her golden hair spread out loosely around her.

With a warm smile, Glimmer leaned forward and placed a light kiss on Adora's cheek. She glanced at Catra. The other girl was curled up tightly into herself, her face smoothed over into a more peaceful expression than usual. The stack of sleeping bags they had piled onto themselves to fight off the cold when they'd returned to the tent the night before had fallen part way from Glimmer's movements.

After another quiet moment of appreciation, Glimmer was crawling out from under the sleeping bags and grabbing her sandals.

The air outside was still cool but warmer than the night before. It was odd to get such a cold snap in the middle of summer like that. The sun was peeking out over the horizon, rays of light spilling into the campsite through the gaps in the trees. It felt warm. The birds were chirping and the water was smooth and still again. She closed her eyes and just took it all in. 

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again. Glancing around the campsite, her gaze landed on a familiar head of blue-black hair sitting near the firepit, facing away from her. Curious, she headed over to the firepit.

"Morning," she greeted.

Frosta looked over at her. She was poking the cold ashes with a stick. It was something both her and Catra had been doing more and more. Glimmer smiled to herself at the thought. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Frosta said, "Morning."

"You're up early."

Frosta shrugged. "Went to bed too early."

"Me too," responded Glimmer. She headed over to the firewood pile. "Want to get the fire going?"

Frosta nodded and they got to work. They got a small fire going pretty quickly with their combined years of skill in doing so. They stacked a couple logs once it was stable enough and let it burn.

Glimmer sat down on one of the stools. Frosta stayed standing and watched the fire. It didn't look nearly as bright during the day as it did at night. Heat still radiated off it though, warming their fingers and cheeks.

"Should we get breakfast started?" asked Frosta.

Glimmer shrugged. "I'm not sure when everyone will be up. Catra and Adora were out late and I'm sure the rest of the girls were up late."

Frosta perked up at Glimmer's words. Glimmer didn't miss the excited look that crossed the younger girl's face. Did she miss something? Did Frosta know why they were out so late last night?

Glimmer shook the thoughts off. She hoped the other two would be up soon. Or some of the girls. Anyone to give her a reason to do something. 

"Actually maybe we could start breakfast," she said suddenly. "It'll take a bit anyway."

Frosta nodded. "Pancakes?"

"Yes  _ please _ ."

Frosta grinned and headed over to the food barrel.

Glimmer shoved down her growing curiosity and worry over her co-counsellors' late night meeting and followed the younger girl.

Breakfast was a good distraction.

Pancakes piled up onto the plate. They made way too many, both out of boredom and the assumption that people would eat them later on as snacks. As they cooked, people started to wake up. It was nearly eight when Adora crawled out of the tent and joined them. Catra was still sleeping. 

Good. She needed it.

Glimmer's brow furrowed at the thought. She pushed it aside and tried to focus on Adora. But Adora was lost in her own thoughts. Her lips were pursed cutely and her eyes were unfocused even as she listened to Frosta talk, only giving short responses.

Glimmer nudged her when they had a quiet moment. "Whatcha thinking about?"

Adora shrugged. "Just thinking."

Glimmer wasn't sure what to make of that. It was hardly an answer. Adora got pulled back into a conversation with the girls. Glimmer bit the inside of her cheek, annoyance sitting heavily in her stomach. 

Catra finally got up around ten, but she was quiet too. She grabbed some pancakes and ate silently, only shooting Glimmer a half-hearted smirk shortly after she sat down. Frosta had bounded right over to Catra with a grin and started talking. Glimmer watched Catra bristle in response and shoot back a short response. Frosta just laughed, but seemed to decide it was best to leave her alone.

Glimmer glanced between the other counsellors. Were they fighting again? They seemed fine when she'd dragged them back to the tent before. They were laughing. Curiosity burned at the back of her mind. It had to be something. Adora didn't seem upset. Only Catra. It wasn't like last time.

Maybe she should say something? It worked last time.

The smell of burning smoke filled her nose. She looked down. Shit. She'd started burning the pancakes she was making.

Quickly moving the pancakes onto the plate, she resolved to figure it out later. As soon as she got a minute.

Whenever that would be.

***

"Are you sure you can't tell me anything?" asked Frosta. Again.

Catra bit back a frustrated groan. "Kid, I told you this morning I'm not telling you anything. It's bad enough that you think your little scheme was successful."

Frosta grinned. "Because it was."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," shot back Catra.

Frosta just giggled. Nothing was going to wipe that smug grin off her face. Catra rolled her eyes.

They were wandering through the forest. Adora had suggested a game of capture the flag. They needed to do  _ something  _ to occupy themselves. So they split the girls up and decided the boundary lines and let them loose to go hide their flag. Catra had no clue where Adora or Glimmer had gone and had somehow ended up with Frosta. The kid was great and all, but she didn't have the patience for her smug questions today.

But it was her job and she would feel like shit if she made Frosta feel bad. She was just having fun. It wasn't her fault that Catra was an emotional wreck for no reason.

Well, not no reason.

Jeez, she needed to take a chill pill. Her thoughts had been running a mile a minute ever since she woke up. Is this what Adora felt like all the time? It was horrible. She just wanted to… not think.

And yet, all she could think about was the way Adora's voice sounded when she was teasing her or why Glimmer's voice cracked when Catra found it in herself to shoot her a snarky grin. Or how she woke up halfway through the night with her arm sprawled over Glimmer's waist and Adora's fingers tangled in her hair. That was a whole other thing she didn't want to think about. 

It was good enough that they were all getting along. It was good enough that she had Adora back in her life. She just wanted to maintain that and get through the summer. Why was this so hard?

She kicked a rock. Frosta was quiet mostly, only saying something every few minutes. Catra was kicking herself for being such a grump. It was her job to be better than that for the kids. She picked her brain for something to talk about.

After a moment of contemplation, she said, "Hey kid, you wanna know some stuff about the Fright Zone?"

Frosta stopped dead in her tracks, looking confused for a minute before nodding enthusiastically.

Catra exhaled slowly. It wouldn't kill her to talk about it. At least the fun parts with the kids.

So she did. 

***

Adora had been avoiding her for a whole day.

Well, sort of.

Glimmer had gotten to talk to her casually a few times, passing a few jokes and remarks back and forth a few times throughout the day before and this morning, but she hadn't been able to get a single moment where they could actually talk. It felt like Adora was avoiding her. And she was starting to get really annoyed.

Catra wasn't much better, but at least that was normal! She just couldn't figure out why they were both suddenly so caught up in themselves. They hadn't even really been talking to each other.

Despite this, there was still an overly comfortable air between them that they were still adjusting to. Another cold night led to another morning of waking up tangled together in a way that they all chose to ignore for the rest of the day. If they didn't talk about it, it was like it didn't happen.

Except Glimmer wanted to talk about  _ something.  _

This was getting ridiculous.

It was the last full day of the trip. They would be packing up and heading back to camp in the morning. She wanted to figure it out before they left. The last bit of the session always went by way too quickly.

She had only tried to bring it up with Adora so far, not exactly knowing how Catra would react. Adora had just brushed it off with an easy smile and said it was nothing even though it  _ clearly was something _ .

Stars, this was so frustrating.

Adora had taken the girls off on one last adventure around the island. Glimmer wanted to start dinner. Catra cited a headache and went to go lay down in their tent. 

The concern Adora had shown over Catra's headache annoyed Glimmer to no end even though her own concern was bubbling to the surface as Catra waved them both off. It wasn't even the concern itself that annoyed her. It was…

She had no idea what it was.

She could say it was jealousy, but it didn't feel like jealousy. It was just… annoyance. 

A clang rang out as she accidentally kicked the pan near the barrel. She let out a string of curses and focused back on what she was doing.

Dinner.

She was trying to make pasta again. It was all they had left other than the last morning's breakfast. But she couldn't get the water to boil. Or actually, she couldn't get the fire hot enough for it to boil. She collapsed onto one of the stools with a frustrated groan.

"Need some help?"

Glimmer jumped at the voice. She turned and saw Catra wearing Adora's Brightmoon Football hoodie, one arm resting on her hip, her head tilted. The same sweater Glimmer had worn all day the day before.

"What?" asked Catra, noticing Glimmer staring.

Glimmer shook her head frantically. "Nothing, just-" she paused. "Nothing. Yeah I could use some help."

Catra smirked and walked over. She moved some of the wood with a stick and threw a couple more logs on. "Hopefully that works." She fell back onto one of the stools with a sigh. 

Glimmer watched the fire grow for a moment before turning to Catra. "How's your head?"

Catra hummed in response. "It's fine."

"Do you actually have a headache or are you just avoiding Adora?" asked Glimmer, the words slipping out before she could stop them. 

Catra scoffed. "No! Of course not!" Her high tone made Glimmer doubt her. Catra just shrugged. "Even if I was, she's doing all the work for me anyway."

"What?"

"She's been avoiding me more than I've been avoiding her." Catra threw another log onto the fire. "Not that I have been avoiding her." She blushed.

Glimmer furrowed her brow. "She's been avoiding fully talking to me too."

Catra laughed. The sound was bittersweet. "Yeah, well, I'm sure you know how she gets when she gets too caught up in her head."

Glimmer nodded slowly. "Yeah, I do."

"She can't let anyone help her figure something out, even if it involves other people," Catra said bitterly. "Adora just has to do it all herself."

Glimmer laughed and Catra looked up in surprise. "She really does try to do everything, doesn't she?" 

The initial unease at the reaction slowly left Catra's eyes, leaving her with a small smile. "She does and it's annoying as hell. Except-"

"When it's not?"

"Yeah, when it's not."

They fell into an awkward silence. Catra looked away again and Glimmer picked at her nails. It was almost a relief to know Adora wasn't just avoiding her. Was that bad? She bit her lip as she thought about it. Maybe she should just let Adora sort it out herself. She looked up at Catra. The other girl still looked annoyed. That could just be the headache though.

This trip was supposed to make things less awkward, not more.

She propped her chin up in her hand and stared at the fire. Would it be worth it to pry more? She was still burning with questions. But she didn't want to make everything worse. 

She sat on the idea for a few more minutes. The water started boiling. She got up and poured pasta into the pot. One last moment of thought and she found herself talking.

"Why were you guys out there last night?"

Catra looked at her in surprise again. 

When the brunette didn't say anything, she tried to backtrack, "I mean, I just thought- you guys didn't say- I woke up and-"

"It was an accident," cut in Catra. "Kinda?"

"An accident?"

"We got set up by our nosey campers."

A laugh burst from Glimmer. "Wait, set up? Actually?"

Catra's ears turned red. Glimmer could only see because of the bandana holding her hair back. She turned away slightly, a blush of her own crawling up her neck.

Catra huffed. "We both knew we got set up. Notes. They were kinda obvious."

"But you went anyway!"

Catra shrugged. "I heard Adora get up. And when she didn't come back, I followed. I just wanted to tell her to come back to the tent but," the redness made its way to her cheeks, "we got distracted."

The blush coating Catra's face, probably—definitely—mirrored by Glimmer's own, sent butterflies shooting through Glimmer's body. 

"So what'd you guys talk about?" She was grinning now.

Catra threw a small stick at her. "Like I'd tell you."

"Why not??"

"Go ask Adora!"

"We already established that Adora is avoiding an actual conversation with both of us!"

"She can't avoid it forever."

Glimmer was going to say something else, but they were interrupted by the screams of their campers entering the vicinity. Catra just smirked at her and stood.

They quickly got taken into the bustle of dinner time with the girls. There was lots to go around and they were also packing up the food stuff as they went along so they'd have less to do in the morning. Glimmer found herself distracted by both her co-counsellors and the ways they interacted with the campers.

Catra would sit with a couple of the girls and joke around, her eyes alight with amusement as she teased. It was nice to see how relaxed she was with the kids. She always looked like all she wanted to do was make these kids happy and make sure they had the time of their lives.

Adora was a lot more hands on with the campers. She worked to help them figure out new things and was always happy to play whatever games they wanted to play. After a few of the girls had finished their dinners, Adora had jumped on the opportunity to start a small game of football. The grin on her face was intoxicating.

A couple times Glimmer caught Catra sneaking glances at Adora. Glimmer had just tilted her head and waited for Catra to notice her looking. It usually didn’t take long. Catra would scowl before the expression softened into something more… Glimmer couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it sent butterflies afloat within her. 

Near the end of the evening, she found herself watching Adora show Lily and a couple other girls how to make the perfect s'more. It was so mundane and she'd seen her do it before, but the excitement in her eyes as she talked was Glimmer's favourite thing to look at.

Catra leaned over to her. "You-" she paused, uncertainty crossing her face. "You should talk to her."

Glimmer nodded. Yeah, maybe she should.

***

It was warmer tonight.

Glimmer was still bundled up in a sweater and pants despite it though. She swore the nights got colder every summer. She was standing near the firepit, waiting for Adora to get back from brushing her teeth. The campers were already in their tents, whispering and giggling like they did every night. 

Adora finally wandered back into the campsite and Glimmer caught her eye. "Last night to stargaze," she said simply, having a feeling it would get the question across.

Adora stopped, looking at Glimmer. She smiled softly. "Last night."

The smile knocks the wind out of Glimmer every time. She smiles back. "You want to?"

Adora paused and Glimmer noticed her eyes dart toward their tent before steadying on her again. Adora nodded. "Yeah, of course, Glim."

Glimmer's heart fluttered. Her breath caught in her throat when Adora entangled their fingers and they headed for the tent. "Be right back," mumbled Adora before climbing into the tent.

Glimmer heard the quiet conversation come from the tent.

"Wanna come out with us, Catra?"

"Nah, I'm good for tonight."

"Head still hurting?"

Silence. Glimmer assumed Catra nodded.

"Okay. We'll be back soon. Early morning."

Next thing she knew Adora was standing next to her again. Adora looked at her warmly. "Ready?"

Glimmer nodded. "C'mon."

Adora let her slip their hands together again and pull her up to the rock-ledge. The moon was out in full force tonight, shining brightly across the lake. The stars were bright and easy to see. The perfect night for stargazing.

They settled onto the rock-ledge for the last time. On this trip at least. Adora let out a long breath and leaned back on her hands, turning to look at Glimmer, eyes shining as bright as the stars.

Glimmer loved her eyes. The way they shined in the right lighting and how expressive they were. She didn't always know what she was thinking, but she always knew how she was feeling.

Adora reached out and brushed some hair out of Glimmer's face. She tucked it behind her ear, fingers lingering gently.

"You've been avoiding me," Glimmer said.

"What?" Adora asked, pulling her hand back. "I haven't been avoiding you."

"Yeah, you have," responded Glimmer, crossing her arms. "Both me and Catra."

Adora's eyes widened. "I didn't mean to. I've just been thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"Nothing important. I-"

"What did you and Catra talk about?" interrupted Glimmer before realizing. "I didn't mean to cut you off. Sorry."

Adora smiled softly. "It's okay, Glim. I know I've been a little distant. I'm sorry."

"No no, Adora, it's okay!" cried Glimmer, grabbing Adora's hands. "I just- I want you to tell me things. But you just pull away."

"Okay, sorry." She winced.

Glimmer brushed her thumb against Adora's hand. "So do you want to talk? We don't have to. I just don't want you to pull away."

Adora nodded. "Let's just- the stars are nice."

Glimmer squeezed her hand. "Okay."

They fell into a comfortable silence, happy to just be there together. They pointed out a couple of constellations and talked about what they would wear to banquet later on in the week. The session was slowly coming to an end. They dipped in and out of silence and conversation.

Slowly they drifted closer together, hands tangled together and laughter mingling over the water.

"Hey, Glim?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Glimmer smiled brightly. On impulse, she grabbed the front of Adora's sweater and pulled her down into a kiss. Adora melted and kissed her back, hands drifting up to gently cup Glimmer's jaw, grinning into the kiss. Warmth burst in Glimmer's chest and- and this was all she wanted. She felt like she was walking on air. She felt safe and warm and so so happy.

Adora was grinning still. Glimmer let out a breathless laugh. "Finally," she whispered.

Adora snorted. She pressed a kiss to Glimmer's forehead. She wrapped an arm around the shorter girl, letting Glimmer settle into her arms. 

They stayed there for a while longer, stealing quick kisses and continuing to joke around with each other. Glimmer was just leaning forward to steal another kiss when they were interrupted. 

"Mind if I join you?"

Catra was standing a few feet away with a sleeping bag wrapped around her shoulders. She had an almost shy smile hanging off her lips.

Glimmer suddenly realized how late it'd gotten. 

Adora had looked up first. "Oh Catra! Sure, come sit."

Catra hesitated, her gaze finding Glimmer's as if she was looking for an okay.

It made Glimmer feel warm all over. Maybe the other girl wasn't  _ always _ the worst. She sure had been nicer on this trip. And now it was almost over. 

Glimmer smiled and nodded Catra over patting the spot beside her.

Catra dipped her head in acknowledgement and wandered closer. She settled down beside Glimmer. Adora was grinning at her.

Glimmer bumped their shoulders together and giggled. Catra rolled her eyes but was smiling.

It had been a successful trip. At least, Glimmer would say so.

And they had the rest of the summer to figure it out.

Whatever it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I published this chapter earlier than I planned, it's been exactly three months since I started Camp Brightmoon and that's crazy!! I've written so much in the past 3 months and I've never stuck out a fic this long and I'm just really proud of myself. I'm also extremely grateful for all the comments and kudos and love I get with each chapter! You all make my day, week, month, etc. I love seeing all of it.
> 
> Anywayyysss, one more slower chapter after this and then we really get into it and I'm very excited ;) Thank you for reading as always and next chapter will be up asap <3 <3 <3


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I talk about food and mud a lot tbh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll leave most of my notes to the end of the chapter but hi! I'm alive. Come get some camp schenanigans!

“It’s about time!” exclaimed Bow through a mouthful of chow mein noodles.

Glimmer flushed, throwing a balled-up napkin at him before hiding behind her own takeout box. “Shut up! It didn’t take  _ that _ long.”

Bow shot her an unimpressed look. “Long enough.” Glimmer stuck her tongue out at him as he continued, “But that’s okay! You guys figured it out.” He grinned as he took another bite of his noodles.

They were sitting outside the only Chinese takeout place near Camp Brightmoon. It was their first night off that they had managed to take the same night. Chinese food was just a tradition at this point. It was getting late though and they both needed to get back to their campers and co-counsellors. 

Glimmer hoped the girls weren’t giving Adora or Catra too hard of a time. They were pretty rowdy when she’d left. They’d just gotten back from out trip a couple of days ago and the girls seemed to have boundless energy ever since. Boundless scheming energy.

“Yeah, we did figure it out,” she responded as she took the last chicken ball from the container. 

Bow didn’t seem to notice her crime. He just watched her stick it in her mouth and chew thoughtfully. “You don’t seem as happy about it as I thought you would be,” he mused.

Glimmer hummed and continued to chew.

Just as she opened her mouth to respond, Bow’s jaw dropped in a mix of offence and horror. “You ate the last chicken ball!”

“You snooze, you lose,” she shot back with a smirk. She plucked a piece of chicken out of Bow’s box with her chopsticks and placed it in her mouth.

“Hey!” Bow retaliated by stealing one of her spring rolls.

Glimmer giggled and let it slide. “Fine, that’s fair.”

Bow nodded, his mouth full again. He swallowed and said, “You’re avoiding my question.”

“You didn’t ask a question.”

“You haven’t let me ask it yet!”

Glimmer put down her takeout box and picked up her drink, taking a long sip. Bow looked at her expectantly. She nodded slowly. “Yes, okay, what’s your question?”

Bow pursed his lips, eyeing Glimmer. “Look, I know there’s something more to this than ‘Adora and I kissed’. You’ve been bouncing between walking on cloud nine and that look of… I don’t know! So what’s wrong?”

Glimmer put her drink down and crossed her arms. “Nothing’s wrong.”

Bow laughed.

“Wh-What?” sputtered Glimmer. She nearly pouted. “It just… it’s more complicated than it was last summer. Or even over the school year.”

With a knowing look, Bow nodded slowly and asked, “Would Catra have anything to do with this ‘more complicated’?” He put air quotes around the words and Glimmer felt her cheeks get hot.

“No of course not,” she said too quickly. “I mean- it doesn’t entirely…”

She trailed off when the amusement on Bow’s face continued to grow, slowly breaking into a grin. Her own pout grew. Her ears burned, but she couldn’t help the amusement growing from the teasing. Maybe it wasn’t  _ totally _ wrong. It might even be  _ totally  _ right. Bow didn’t need to know that though.

“I mean, maybe a little?” she said, wincing at the words. Who was she kidding? Keeping things from Bow was not on her list of abilities.

Bow nodded, the look on his face screaming “I knew it!”. Glimmer rolled her eyes. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. Honestly. It just…

“I’m not jealous,” she said, brow pinching. Jealousy wasn’t the right word.

“I never said you were.”

Glimmer was looking forward now, out to the glowing windows of the Chinese takeout place. It was called Eternia Takeout. The ‘e’s and ‘t’s were all dark though so the sign just read “rnia akou”. It never seemed to get fixed. She and Bow liked to ask about the sign jokingly every time they ordered food. They always got a laugh out of the cooks and a discount from the cashiers.

Shaking her head to dispel the thoughts, she worried her bottom lip as she debated on an answer for Bow. “Things with Adora were easy before C-”  _ Catra showed up, _ “-before this summer. I knew it would fall into place and it would be right. But now…” she paused, reaching out to grip the steering wheel. “It’s still right. I couldn’t give it up for anything. I-”  _ love her,  _ “but something…”

The ‘e’s on the sign flickered.

“Is missing?”

“Exactly!”

Bow was still grinning when Glimmer looked back at him. She groaned and rested her head against the steering wheel. “I can’t mess this up. This is ridiculous.”

“You’re not gonna mess it up, Glimmer,” reassured Bow. He put down his food and twisted so he could look at her better. “Come on, look at me.” Glimmer sighed but looked up. His easy smile was comforting. “You should just talk to Adora. You saw how upset she was when Catra wouldn’t talk to her and you’ve seen how happy she is around both of you.” Glimmer opened her mouth, but Bow held a hand up to stop her. “Stop right there. It’s different than with anyone else. With you and with Catra, it’s different. Everyone sees it.”

Glimmer mulled over the idea, still worrying her lip between her teeth.

“Just like everyone could see that you and Adora liked each other,” he added cheekily. 

Glimmer gasped indignantly and shoved his shoulder.

Bow laughed. “You know I’m right! There were bets going in the staff room! DT and I made some serious cash.”

Crimson blush crawled up Glimmer’s neck, burning her ears and cheeks once more. “You did not!”

“You’re right I didn’t.”

“Thank God.”

“DT absolutely did though.”

Glimmer groaned.

***

Somebody was screaming.

Catra huffed in frustration and climbed up the cabin stairs. It really was getting too late for this. The youngest cabins would be sleeping by now. Or at least they should be. She wasn’t so sure of how well anyone could sleep with the screeching coming from her own campers. 

She shoved the door open and entered the cabin. “Guys, come on! It’s too late for this!” she had to shout to get their attention. 

Six pairs of eyes were suddenly on her. Suppressing the instinct to flinch at the sudden attention, she waved a hand and said, “Who’s next? We don’t have all night.”

Health logs. Catra thought they were kinda dumb. Usually, it was Glimmer and Adora doing them while she kept the kids under control, but tonight Glimmer was out with Bow. So that left her.

She’d been trying to get through them as quickly as possible without making it obvious she wasn’t exactly into the idea of being a child’s emotional support beyond whatever situations she managed to mix herself up in and then hand off to Adora and Glimmer. She just… wasn’t exactly good at the whole emotional vulnerability thing and it was best left to… well, not her. 

She smacked the clipboard on the side of one of the bed frames. They weren’t even listening. The girls sat crowded on a couple of top bunks tucked in the corner of the cabin, whispering and giggling and apparently screaming when she wasn’t there. 

_ Finally _ , they shifted slightly and one of them jumped down from the top bunk. Catra flinched. “Hey, what did we say about jumping from the top bunks?”

Frosta glanced at her as she walked by her, heading for the door. She shrugged. “Sorry.”

Catra rolled her eyes and followed her outside. “No, you’re not.”

“Yeah, I’m not,” grinned Frosta.

She put a hand on the younger girl's head to mess up her hair, pushing her head forward teasingly, as she strode by. Frosta protested loudly and Catra just stuck her tongue out. "C'mon let's get this over with."

Frosta laughed. "I see why you never do these."

Tapping her pen at the top of the clipboard, Catra shrugged. "We didn't do these at the Fright Zone. It wasn't exactly a place you got too vulnerable at. You weren't there for therapy."

Frosta didn't say anything as she settled onto the log bench where Catra had been doing her health logs for the night. Catra settled sideways onto the bench and looked at the clipboard.

"Umm," Catra began, "On a scale of 1-10, how was your day?"

Frosta shrugged. "Like an 8 I guess?"

"Cool cool," Catra mumbled, jotting it down onto the board. "Highlight? Lowlight?"

"Highlight was your face when we forced you, Adora, and Glimmer beside each other in the corner at breakfast this morning," Frosta said without hesitation, clearly waiting for a reaction.

Catra scowled. "Lowlight?"

Frosta shrugged again. "Fiona is still being kinda mean…" she trailed off, brow pinching together. "But it's whatever." She crossed her arms. "I've got Lily."

Catra nearly laughed at how much Frosta sounded like she did at twelve.  _ I've got Adora _ . The amusement was overtaken by concern when Frosta's frown deepened and the girl turned away slightly. It was her job to help. And she found herself wanting to anyway. It sucked being the odd one out even when you have a person or two. Especially in an environment like this.

"I can get Glimmer or Adora to talk to her," she offered before adding hastily, "Or I can do it myself. If-if you want…"

Frosta perked up slightly. "You don't have to. The session is almost over. I'll survive."

Catra shook her head. "You shouldn't have to deal with other people bringing you down just because they're shitty. If-" she paused, "if I've learned anything this summer, that isn't what camp is about." She made a sour face at the sentiment. This camp was making her soft. 

She half-expected Frosta to laugh and say something snarky. What she got instead made her feel warm and a little embarrassed.

"Thanks," Frosta said softly.

Catra nodded sharply. "Yeah yeah, no problem, kid."

Frosta smirked. "Glimmer is rubbing off on you."

"Don't think for a second me helping you out is going to get you any further in your schemes," warned Catra, eyes narrowing. She was trying to be serious, but Frosta's smirk only grew. 

"It's okay, I don't need any help with that," she replied. 

Catra rolled her eyes. " _ Anyway,  _ any injuries today?"

"Only your pride."

She glared at Frosta. "Smartass. Any homesickness?"

"Nah this is way more fun than home."

Catra nodded slowly. "Alright, overall, how are you doing? Looking forward to the last several days? You're back next session right?"

Frosta bobbed her head. "Yeah, me and a couple of the other girls are back after the mid summer break. I always come the whole summer." She paused, thinking over the rest of her answer. "End of this session is always fun because there's so much cool stuff going on, but I know that I'll be back in a week."

Catra blinked. What cool stuff? She kept forgetting that she'd never finished a session at this camp. It felt like she'd been here for so long and yet, she had no idea what to expect. "Oh yeah. Like what?"

"Well, there's banquet, the end of session all-day program, dessert for breakfast, breakfast for dinner," she listed the activities on her fingers as she talked, "and then there's the talent show!"

"Talent show?" 

"Yeah, campers and counselors both participate. You can do whatever you want," Frosta explained. "There's usually a lot of singing and instrument playing, but sometimes there's some kids who do magic tricks or show off party tricks their parents taught them."

Catra hummed. "That's cool. Are you gonna do something?"

The mischievous look on Frosta's face worried Catra. Frosta just shrugged in response. "Not sure yet," she said carefully. "I usually just like to watch, but Lily wants to do something."

“I’m sure she’ll come up with something,” mused Catra, glancing over the clipboard again. 

Frosta was leaning back on her hands, swinging her legs back and forth. She looked over to Catra. “Are you going to do anything?”

Catra arched a brow. “Like what?

“Glimmer told me you can sing.”

If Catra hadn’t been looking at the younger girl, she would still have no doubt of the grin spread across her face. Her face burned and she narrowed her gaze on Frosta. “What? When did she tell you that?”

Frosta snorted, obviously amused at how flustered Catra had gotten. “I don’t know. She just mentioned it.”

Catra pressed her lips together and tried to focus on fighting off the butterflies building in her stomach. Ridiculous. This was ridiculous. How embarrassing that this kid could…

Ugh. Frosta was laughing now. At least she was having a good time. That was a plus. And kind of what she was here for. Stupid health logs. But maybe it was okay if she could get these kids to laugh. Even if it was at her expense.

A small laugh escaped her even as her face grew warmer. “You’re such a little shit, kid.”

Frosta nearly keeled over. “You can’t-” she wheezed. “So unprofessional.”

“Oh get over it,” shot back Catra. “We’ve established this.”

Frosta stuck her tongue out in response.

Catra exhaled dramatically. “So rude. And I was just going to say something nice.”

“Oh sure you were,” Frosta responded, crossing her arms and looking expectantly at Catra, hiccups of laughter pushing past the disbelieving expression she was trying to have.

Catra nodded. “Yep and now you don’t get to hear it.”

Frosta put a hand to her chest, clutching the front of her shirt dramatically. “Oh no what will I possibly do?”

With a roll of her eyes, Catra sighed. “Guess I won’t say anything nice again.”

“You didn’t even say anything nice! You called me a little shit.”

“Watch your language, kid.”

Frosta was grinning still. “Shut up.”

“Now who’s being unprofessional?”

“Still you!”

Catra shrugged. “Whatever you say. Now remind me again, how did my singing ability that  _ doesn’t exist _ happen to come up with you and Sparkles?”

She watched as the younger girl tried to hide her mischievous express by looking down.  _ Meddling kids, _ Catra thought dryly. She waited for a response.

Frosta just shrugged again. “It just did. I didn’t ask if that’s what you mean.”

Catra’s brows drew together in confusion. Glimmer was… talking about her? To Frosta? She felt her heartbeat pick up speed at the thought and her stomach did little flip flops.

Her cheeks must have turned as red as they felt because Frosta was looking at her weirdly. God, way to embarrass herself in front of this snarky kid. The small smirk forming on her face told Catra she wasn’t going to live this small slip down anytime soon.

She angrily shoved the feeling down until she could think straight. It only took a few seconds. She was getting way too good at it again. Her therapist was going to have a hayday when the summer ended. The thought was less amusing than she thought it would be. 

Frosta jumped down off the log, pulling her out of her thoughts. She blinked and turned her head. “Anything else you want to talk about?” She wasn’t sure she could handle any of the other campers right now. Frosta was at least easy to banter with.

Another shrug. 

Catra sighed.

Frosta shifted her weight between her feet, swaying slightly. “Actually,” she started.

Catra perked up.

“Did you ever figure out why the Fright Zone closed?”

That was… random. She tried to figure out why Frosta was asking by staring her down for a moment. The younger girl just gazed back expectantly, still bouncing slightly from one foot to the other.

“I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t know at the beginning of the session,” Catra replied. “I’ve been here since.”

“Yeah, but you still have internet access and stuff. Nothing?”

What was she trying to get at? Catra pressed her lips into a thin line and leaned back. “I don’t know, kid.”

“Not even from your mom? I mean, she ran the camp didn’t she?”

Catra bristled. Immediately anger swirled in the pit of her stomach. Goosebumps rose up on her arms and the back of her neck felt hot. “What did you say?”

Frosta stepped back slightly, brow pinching with confusion as she watched Catra. “Just that… your mom-” she faltered.

_ Not gonna lose it on a kid. Not gonna lose it on a kid.  _

Catra inhaled deeply through her nose and forced herself to ignore the rising anger. “Look, I don’t know anything. I wasn’t even in town.” Her heart was pounding in her head as she pushed the words out as calmly as possible. It was just a question. Frosta was just a kid. A nosey kid, but a kid. “The only thing I heard was something about a phone call. A report or something.”

Frosta leaned forward, but stayed a few steps away. “Yeah?”

“That’s all I know!” Catra threw her hands up before dragging one down her face, trying to remind herself of literally any coping mechanism that would calm her racing heart. She was coming up empty-handed. She sighed in defeat, taking her hand away from her face. “I still can’t figure out why you’re so dead set on figuring this out. Is it really that interesting?”

Frosta shrugged. Geez, that’s all she ever got from this kid.

Catra counted to ten in her head. It was the only thing she could think of that would maybe help quell the anger swimming loops behind her eyes and making her nauseous in the pit of her stomach.

How was Frosta supposed to know that was a sore subject? She’d never mentioned it before.  _ For good reason. _ But it was nothing to lose it over. She had to be the adult here.

How Frosta found out was a whole other question entirely. The few ideas she had pulled at the nausea building in her. She took a deep breath and said, “Just… don’t talk about  _ her. _ ”

Frosta’s brow pinched again, but she nodded.

Catra nodded back curtly. “And for the record, she’s definitely not my mom.” She nearly gagged at the idea. That’s certainly not something she’s thought about in a very very long time.

“Got it.”

The sun had set completely now. How late had it gotten? Neither of them moved until Catra noticed Adora heading over to them. She was doing that awkward half-run where you stop half-way through when you realize you look like an idiot. Except she didn’t stop and just grinned even more awkwardly when she reached them.

“You guys good?”

Catra tensed. She prayed Adora wouldn’t notice how she folded into herself, still eyeing Frosta.

Frosta nodded. “Yeah, we just got talking.”

“Oh, well, it’s time for lights out so head on back,” responded Adora, turning to look at Catra. The way her nose scrunched up and her eyebrows drew together told Catra she had noticed.

Frosta ran off in the direction of the cabin, but not before turning slightly to ask one last question. “So when you say a report… do you mean someone called to report the Fright Zone to get it shut down?”

Catra didn’t miss how Adora tensed at the question.

“I guess? I don’t know. Go to bed!” she called back, crossing her arms.

Frosta laughed and bounded up the cabin stairs. Catra huffed and turned to Adora. The blonde was biting her lip, concern swimming in her eyes.

“You okay?” asked Catra. She felt awkward. Her ears burned when Adora’s gaze shifted to her.

Adora nodded slowly. “What?” She blinked. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I was just wondering where you two had gone off to. I finished the rest of the logs.”

Catra’s brows shot up in surprise. “Wait what? Were we really out here that long?”

With a laugh, Adora waved a hand for Catra to follow her back to the cabin. “I mean, it wasn’t that long. The other kids didn’t have much to say tonight.”

Catra grabbed her clipboard and stood. “Funny considering how snarky they get with their schemes. You’d think they’d be gloating about their plan working or something.”

Adora’s face flushed and Catra felt the back of her neck get hot when she noticed. The blonde shrugged, an easy smile pulling at her lips. “Nope. None of them said anything.”

They stopped at the bottom of the cabin stairs. The voices of the campers carried out through an open window, but Catra couldn’t make out anything they were saying. She could see the lights were out. Adora’s brow was knitted together like it always did when she was thinking about something. Or feeling guilty about something.

Catra’s stomach was doing somersaults again and she couldn’t tell if it was for good reasons or bad ones. She swallowed down the feeling and tilted her head.

Before she could say anything, Adora looked at her. “Are you okay? You seemed upset when I came over.”

The nausea from earlier rose up in her once more, but she pushed it away. “Yeah, I’m fine, Adora.”

Adora looked like she was going to argue and Catra bit back a sigh of relief when she just pulled her lip in between her teeth once more, leaving the conversation hanging. Catra’s gaze drifted downwards a few inches, settling on Adora’s lips.

She started when she realized and yanked her gaze away. God, this was not the time for this. The back of her neck was burning again. Adora couldn’t see it yet, but soon the flush would carry up to her neck and cheeks. She spun around and headed up the stairs.

When Adora didn’t follow, she turned and arched a brow. “You coming?”

Adora nodded. “Yeah, I’m coming.”

They entered the cabin together. Adora smiling awkwardly and Catra’s face flushed as she climbed up into her bunk. This was going to be a long night.

***

Adora’s thoughts were racing as she tried to focus on what Sea Hawk was saying. Something about… the first year boys? And campfire? She couldn’t be too sure. The other counsellor had lost her ten minutes ago no matter how hard she was trying to pay attention.

Glimmer had gotten pulled into a meeting with her dad about some camp thing or another. Or maybe it was about her mom. She hadn’t really caught that either.

She’d tried to find Bow, but he was nowhere to be found. Probably off wandering around with Jewelstar or something. He’d been hanging out with the other boy a lot.

Catra was also nowhere to be found. She’d said something about hanging out with Scorpia before dinner. And yet Scorpia was right here in A&C talking animatedly with Double Trouble a few tables away from Adora.

It wasn’t sitting right with her. 

Everything had been going great since out trip until the previous night. Catra was clearly upset about something. It worried her what it could be. A million ideas cycled through her thoughts, but one kept getting caught in the dam. She shoved it away.

Sea Hawk was still talking. She’d completely lost the conversation now, but he seemed to be content with her occasional nod and hum of agreement. She was leaning her cheek heavily against her fist, elbow propped up on the tabletop.

She was just about ready to call it quits and head to Adventure to do some climbing (maybe it would clear her head) when Scorpia sat down beside Sea Hawk.

“Hey, I wanted to talk to Adora for a sec,” she said in greeting. “Do you mind?”

Adora perked up as Sea Hawk grinned. “Of course not! I’ll leave you ladies to it.”

“Awesome, thanks so much,” Scorpia said, nodding as she spoke.

With a short salute to the two girls, Sea Hawk made his way to the other side of the building, seemingly to talk to Mermista. Adora watched him leave before turning her attention to Scorpia. The other girl’s lopsided grin was enough for Adora to let herself take a breath.

“You wanted to talk?” she asked, sitting up slightly.

Scorpia laughed. “Well, sorta. I was wondering how you were doing? You were sitting here and your face was all pinched up and I figured something was bothering you.” She scratched her chin. “I dunno though. I’m not all that great at reading expressions. I just wanted to make sure you were all good. Haven’t seen Catra all day. Did something happen?”

The words ran circles in Adora’s head.  _ Did _ something happen? Everything seemed fine. Things were good even. Great. She shook her head. “I don’t know. She was upset last night I think, but I don’t know what about. Nothing happened between us or her and Glimmer. At least as far as I know. I could be wrong.”

Scorpia hummed in response. “If nothing happened with you two…” she mused. “It’s probably nothing. You know how Catra is. She’s probably fine.” She frowned. “I wish she would talk to me though. I feel like I haven’t seen her in weeks.”

Adora bit the inside of her cheek, thinking it all over. Everything had been fine until Catra and her were doing health logs. Glimmer wasn’t even there. At least that narrowed it down. Sort of. Not really. She pushed a hand through her hair anxiously before realizing how it would mess up her ponytail. She readjusted the hairstyle as she tried to come up with some sort of reason. There had to be a reason. Right?

“Adora?”

“Huh?” Adora shook her head slightly. Focus. “Oh. Sorry.”

Scorpia smiled. “Not a problem. I can leave you to it. If you want, that is. I don’t mind sticking around. Perfuma is busy with some of the kids who wanted to go on one last nature hike before the end of the session. Have you gone before? They’re so cool! We go down to the creek and there’s frogs! And all kinds of cool plants and everyone always gets super muddy and has to change before dinner, but it’s worth it for all the cool things the kids find. I never liked mud much when I was a kid. It was too… well, I guess muddy. Gosh, it got everywhere. My moms never liked it much, but I don’t see why when you can just wash it off. It’s even better--”

Adora was barely listening. And she felt bad. She really did like talking to Scorpia. But her thoughts kept drifting to Catra. And then to Glimmer.  _ Oh wait. _ Glimmer. What time was it? She looked at her watch.

She nearly jumped up. Finally something to stop her racing thoughts in their tracks. Scorpia trailed off as she took in Adora’s sudden excitement. She was still smiling though.

“Hey, sorry, I forgot that Glimmer is done with her meeting like… now!,” Adora explained quickly. “I gotta go.”

Scorpia nodded. “Oh yeah totally! You guys have fun!” 

Adora was already out of her seat, but she paused and looked at Scorpia. “Thanks for, uh, you know, checking up. I-um, it was nice.”

“For sure!” Scorpia beamed. Her expression faltered slightly as she wrung her fingers together. “Could you-I mean, would you mind, um, telling Catra I was looking for her. If you see her!”

Adora gave her a thumbs up. “Yeah, of course!”

Scorpia’s beaming expression returned just before Adora bounded out of the building, barely managing to keep herself from an all-out run.

Dinner was in half an hour. As she approached the dining hall, she watched a few kids from each cabin come in and out of the large building. They were likely on table-setting duty. Early cabins always got the best dishes and in the morning, the faster you were the better kind of cereal your table got. It hardly mattered in the end when all the kids toured between the tables asking if they could have some of the more sugary cereals during breakfast, but the thought of claiming it first got the kids out of bed in the morning.

The sun was shining brightly. It warmed her face as she stood in the sunniest spot she could find. She’d always liked being in the sun more than Catra. Even more than Glimmer who practically grew up at this camp. It just awakened her senses in a way nothing else ever did. One of the few things that let her clear her head and just relax.

Glimmer was like her sun in that way too. Being with her just made it easier to think. Or not think, actually. And she made her feel warm and happy.

Man, that’s corny.

Her face burns and it’s not from the sun. She’s too busy taking in the day and thinking about… well, everything to notice when Glimmer sneaks up behind her.

“Boo!”

Adora let out a yelp and spun around right as Glimmer burst into laughter. Her face was on fire as she tried to grasp some semblance of dignity, eyes wide.

Glimmer was overflowing with giggles, nearly keeling over from the force of her laughter. “You should… see… your… face!” she wheezed.

Adora tried to look unamused, but a smile tugged at her lips until she was giggling right along with Glimmer. “I can’t believe you.”

Rolling her eyes, Glimmer grabbed her arm, leaning in close. “Like you wouldn’t do exactly the same thing.”

“Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn’t.”

“You would.”

“You got me there.”

Her arm was tingling where Glimmer was pressed up against her. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to this. Did she want to? She felt great. It was new and kinda scary and what if she messed it up, but Glimmer was smiling at her and she felt like she was melting. Stronger than the sun.

“Should we get out of here?”

Adora threaded their fingers together, squeezing once. Her heart fluttered when Glimmer returned the squeeze, still looking expectantly at her. She nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

They headed off down one of the various paths away from the busy parts of camp. There was some time to kill and they wanted to take advantage of every second they could. Glimmer swung their hands playfully between them, her eyes sparkling in the sun.

As they passed by the stairs leading down to the docks, Adora could see dark clouds in the distance. More rain maybe. There sure had been a lot this session. Hopefully next session would be nicer. The games needed good weather.

She was content to just walk in comfortable silence with Glimmer, but as they got further away from center camp and the loud voices and screams of the campers faded into the distance, she tilted her head, glancing at the smaller girl, and asked, “How was your meeting?”

Glimmer shrugs. “It was a meeting. Nothing too important.” She kicked a rock down the path. “Oh! I almost forgot. You’re still coming back to our house over the break right? My dad was wondering.”

“Oh yeah, of course,” replied Adora. “I mean, unless you had other plans.”

“Nope, just thought I’d double check.”

In all honesty, Adora had completely forgotten about the break. She knew the session was coming to an end and she certainly had enough laundry to do to prove it and that this happened every year, but she’d been so caught up in her head that it slipped her mind. She worried her lip between her teeth. That was happening a lot now.

Going back to Glimmer’s house was always fun. It would be nice to see Angella again. She hadn’t been around much this summer. Bow would probably come over and they could relax and goof around like they always did. And her and Glimmer wouldn’t have to be so secretive--not that they really were-- because there wouldn’t be any kids around. It would be great. They could be… girlfriends. That’s what they were, right?

She swallowed nervously at the idea of telling Glimmer’s parents that. Micah was here and had probably heard through the rumor mill. Everyone else certainly had. But Angella would likely hear it from them or Micah first. She flushed at the thought.

Glimmer paused, pulling back on her hand so she’d stop walking. “What’s wrong?”

Adora blinked, focusing back on the smaller girl. “Huh?”

“I asked what’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing’s wrong,” she replied. “Just thinking about having to tell your mom about… us.”

Glimmer blushed. “Oh yeah I guess we’ll have to.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

The squeeze of her hand and the shy smile Glimmer sent her told her the answer even before she spoke. “Not at all. Just didn’t think about it.”

Adora nodded. “Yeah, me either.”

Glancing around, Glimmer pulled her off the path a little ways into the forest. Adora was a little confused but followed her, just enjoying the feel of her hand in Glimmer’s. Glimmer stopped after a few minutes. They couldn’t see the path anymore, but they both knew the way.

In seconds Adora was backed up against a large tree. Glimmer was grinning mischievously up at her. She returned the expression, raising a brow slightly at her antics. 

Glimmer kissed her.

She could feel Glimmer grinning into the kiss. Her lips were soft and warm and she pulled away far too soon, tilting her head cutely.

“What?” Adora asked with a laugh.

Glimmer bit her lip. “You’re so cute.”

Adora flushed, her cheeks burning. “Says the one who dragged me out into the forest to make-out. Are we fourteen?”

Glimmer pouted and Adora just wanted to kiss it away. “Are you saying you  _ don’t  _ want to make-out with me in the forest?”

“Well… no.”

“That’s what I thought.”

She leaned up again and Adora felt her worries melt away. Nothing was more important than this right now.

***

Glimmer felt giddy.

All through dinner she couldn’t wipe the blinding grin off her face. Even Catra’s grouchy attitude that day couldn’t ruin it, even if it did make her worry slightly. But that hardly mattered with Adora squished up beside her at their usual table. The girls were loud as usual, but she welcomed the chaos. Everyone seemed to be excited for the night’s evening program despite the growing clouds on the horizon. She hoped it wouldn’t storm.

Tonight they were having breakfast for dinner. They did it every session and there was always so much variety. Everything from pancakes and waffles to toast and yogurt and muffins. She was pleased to see the girls had managed to snag the Fruit Loops and poured herself a bowl before handing it off to Lily with a smile.

As the meal wrapped up and dishes were put away, she spotted her dad stepping up onto a bench he’d dragged to the front and waving his hands around dramatically to catch everyone’s attention. She snickered at his antics but quieted her campers down and helped other counsellors do the same.

When the hall was finally quiet, Micah grinned and shouted, “How was everyone’s breakfast?”

Shouts and pounding on the tables filled the dining hall.

Micah laughed. “Good good, I’m glad. Don’t forget to thank Razz on your way out.” He winked. “Now, I know you’re all really excited for tonight’s game.”

More shouts and pounding. Glimmer noticed Catra’s increased attention as she tried to push aside her obvious bad mood to hype up the kids. Butterflies threatened to explode in Glimmer when she was greeted with a shy smile across the table.

“But-” Micah continued. “It does look like rain. And we all know the rules. Thunder and lightning…?”

“No can do!” everyone shouted back.

Micah nodded. “So far we seem okay. So counsellors, get your campers ready. Sort them into their colours and have them back here in twenty minutes. We’ll see how the night goes. Everyone wear a jacket!”

Cheers erupted and the hall burst into activity. Kids scrambled for the doors, pushing and shoving and shouting, before breaking out into center camp and chasing each other to their cabins. 

They were all surprisingly fast to get in and out of their cabin, but the rest of camp seemed to be lagging. By the time they had herded the girls back to the front of the dining hall, they were the only ones to have arrived.

Dark clouds were looming over them. Glimmer looked up and winced when a raindrop hit her eye. Slowly, but surely the sky cracked open and it began to pour. Glimmer just laughed and pulled her hood down. It was kind of refreshing.

Catra had run under the cover of the awning as soon as the rain started. Adora was grinning and copied Glimmer, yanking her hood down and letting her hair get soaked. A few of the girls followed Catra’s example and the rest began jumping around in the heavy downpour, giggling and screaming.

Glimmer had a great idea.

She ran over to the staff office doors, sliding one open a crack and slipped into the small room. Her gaze quickly landed on her target. A large speaker. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and connected it to the speaker. It took a bit of work but after a few seconds, she managed to push the speaker all the way over to the door. She climbed over it, not wanting to get it wet, and hopped back out onto the deck.

Catra was looking at her weirdly. Adora wasn’t paying attention having gotten pulled into a game of rough-housing with the girls. She was grinning widely and it nearly knocked Glimmer off her feet. She bit her lip and tried to focus on the task at hand.

A few seconds of scrolling later, she found the song she was looking for.  _ Umbrella _ by Rihanna started pouring out the speaker. She nearly blushed at how cliche it was but she couldn’t help herself.

The music caught Adora’s attention as well as some of the girls. The same girls who nearly had her on her butt in the now muddy ground. But they let go and started jumping again, slipping around on the slick dirt.

Adora started dancing with a goofy grin, encouraging the girls to join her until they were all jumping and spinning and laughing in the pouring rain. Glimmer got pulled out by a couple girls and joined them.

The song changed and Glimmer was dancing with Adora now. She grabbed her hands and spun her around causing Glimmer to laugh loudly, slipping right into Adora’s arms. Adora reached up and pushed her wet bangs out of her eyes. Her eyelashes were heavy with raindrops and her grin was warm.

Glimmer almost kissed her before the moment was broken by the very reason they shouldn’t. The girls were cackling as they dragged Adora away into the newly forming crowd.

The other cabins were slowly trickling into the center of camp. Kids were shedding their coats in favour of getting soaked by the rain as they chased each other and joined in on the dance party.

Glimmer smiled apologetically as she let the kids drag Adora into the crowd and she was suddenly surrounded by a group of youngest boys who very clearly planned to use the towering girl as a jungle gym. Adora just shook her head at the betrayal before focusing on the new crowd of kids.

Glimmer scanned the crowd and noticed Catra still hiding under the awning. The kids who had initially ran under with her had dispersed into the crowd to join in on the fun. Her arms were crossed and her lips were pressed into a thin line. Glimmer grinned mischievously as she ran toward her. Catra’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as she approached.

Without thinking about it too much, Glimmer stopped and grabbed both her hands. “Come dance, come on!”

“What?” Catra sputtered. “I’m-”

Glimmer took that as a yes and started pulling her out into the crowd. “It’ll be fun!”

“Sparkles, what the-”

“Just listen for once!”

Catra didn’t look very happy about it, but she shut up. Glimmer took the win, not missing the light coat of pink across the brunette’s cheeks.

A few feet into the crowd, Glimmer was still gripping the other girl’s hands. It was raining hard enough to soak Catra within seconds. They were both soaked now. Glimmer smirked, proud of herself for dragging her out here. Catra looked less than impressed, but the shy smile that was slowly creeping onto her face made Glimmer’s heart pound.

“Alright, you dragged me out here,” Catra said. “And for what?”

Glimmer stuck her tongue out. “Come on, lighten up. You’ve been grumpy all day.”

Catra’s nose scrunched up cutely. “Y-you can let go of my hands now, you know. I’m not gonna run away.”

Heat spread across Glimmer’s cheeks. She dropped the other girl’s hands after a moment of hesitation. “Okay fine. Have some fun!”

Catra hesitated, but was saved by a group of kids practically jumping her and Glimmer. They were shouting over the sound of the rain, other kids and music. Glimmer watched as Catra shed the layer of anxiety Glimmer had been able to see and replaced it with an excitement that could rival the kids in front of her. It was impressive how the other girl could so easily hide how she was feeling. A little scary too.

Glimmer’s brows knitted together. She gasped quietly when Catra laid a hand on her arm, gently trying to get her attention again. Glimmer wondered why when she so obviously already had it.

  
  


“Let’s go princess,” Catra smirked. “You wanted to have some fun?”

Glimmer nodded, instinctively biting her lip.

Catra was leading now, her hand somehow tangled in Glimmer’s again. The crowd had grown. The whole camp was here now. Glimmer had forgotten how many kids they had this year. Way more than usual. She knew it was because of all the kids joining from the Fright Zone. The closure had been really good for them. And she honestly hoped for the kids too. This is what camp was supposed to be like. Spontaneous dance parties in the rain and infectious laughter all around. She glanced around and could see everyone having the time of their lives. Kids she’d known since their first day of camp mingled with kids she was just getting to know this summer. Counsellors she’d known since her first day of camp mingled with the newcomers, jokes and friendships growing all over the place.

It made her feel warm and content. This was exactly what camp was supposed to do. It brought people together. And the only goal was to have fun and enjoy each other’s company. And maybe learn a thing or two.

Catra let go of her hand. Glimmer looked ahead. Adora grinned at both of them, bumping her shoulder into Catra’s, her hair now loose and hanging in her eyes. Catra rolled her eyes at the action, but her smile was growing. She ran a hand through her thick hair, slicking it back with the rain water. They looked ridiculous. And cute.

Glimmer smiled.

Camp was doing its job. They were learning and laughing and things would fall into place.

For now she could just dance. And jump. And mess around. (And  _ accidentally  _ slip into Adora’s arms again.) So she ran a hand through her own wet hair, a giggle escaping her, and practically jumped forward to join them.

Bow was right. She wouldn’t ruin it. Whatever  _ it _ was. Whether it was her and Adora. Or her and Adora and-

Whatever it was, it would all fall into place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowie okay! This chapter kicked my ass much like school and life is right now, but it turned out a lot better (and longer) than I expected so I'm happy. I hope everyone liked it. We're moving into the real fun stuff soon and I'm super excited! 
> 
> As for next chapter, I'm in my last three and a bit weeks of this semester of school and we've hit the point in the year where I tend to just fade so I make no promises, but as always my goal is two weeks from now. Thank you for all the comments and kudos, it means the world <3 <3


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Over the break plans are changed and made in the midst of the session's annual all-day program: Colour Wars

The rain had left the air sticky with humidity. Which honestly just wasn’t fair. Wasn’t rain supposed to break the humidity? Catra exhaled sharply and shoved her hair back away from her face, trying to push down the static and frizz humidity always left her with. She gave up momentarily as she moved a branch out of her way only for it to swing back and scratch her arm as she passed.

“Shit,” she hissed.

Even at this hour, sweat pooled under her arms and on the back of her neck. God, she hated the heat. It hadn’t even been that bad so far, but clearly, someone flipped a switch or something. This was just gross. She’d half-considered jumping in the lake just to escape the heat. But then she remembered it was 3am and that probably wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had.

Whatever. It was fine. It was a shower morning. She just had to kill a couple more hours and it would be fine. It would be fine and she could take a cold shower...alone. Well, not really alone. Glimmer would be a few stalls down, humming some stupid song like she did every morning. And she’d smile that stupid smile that Catra couldn’t get out of her head. And then they’d go back to the cabin where Adora would be waiting, already raring to start the day, and she would pretend that every time Adora bumped their shoulders together or grinned shyly she didn’t need someone to teach her how to breathe again… goddammit. 

This was why she was out here again. 

At 3am. 

Boiling to death. Not that the cabin would be much better. It’s not like they had air conditioning.

She hadn’t gone back to the cliffside clearing--or The Beacon as Adora insisted on calling it and it’s not like she’d ever said no to Adora’s stupid grin. Well, sort of. She shook her head, physically trying to push away that train of thought. She hadn’t gone back since before they went on out trip. 

She hadn’t been out much at all at night actually. Sleep seemed to come easier after four nights of far-too-close proximity with her co-counsellors. Or at least that’s what it felt like. If she couldn’t sleep, she just… god why did she do this? She just focused on the slow steady inhales and exhales of Adora in the top bunk next to her. Because somehow they’d all been sleeping. 

Adora was never subtle when she got up. They shared the same ladder after all. Catra always noticed her leave, even through a half-asleep haze. She was never surprised by it in the morning. It was always more of a surprise when Glimmer went wandering. Even more so when it was before either her or Adora got up in the night. 

Tonight was one of those nights.

After a couple of hours of staring up at the ceiling, counting the cracks, listening to Adora’s steady breaths and Glimmer’s tossing and turning between the occasional sound from the campers, Catra had to stop herself from sitting up when the shifting of bedsheets stopped and the floor creaked. She froze, focusing on listening as Glimmer slipped her shoes on and tip-toed to the door.

The second the door clicked shut Catra sat up and looked at her watch. 2:04am. She licked her lips and swallowed to get rid of the itchy dryness that had somehow formed despite every other part of her body dripping with sweat. Heart pounding, her curiosity got the better of her and she started to climb down from her bunk.

A quick glance at Adora showed that her departure hadn’t disturbed the other girl. The blonde was completely dead to the world. It was probably a good thing for once. Catra’s gaze stuck on Adora as she hovered half-on-half-off the ladder. The blanket laid over top of the blonde had twisted and moved and was only half-covering her. The lack of blanket exposed her back to the open air. The shirt she’d gone to sleep in was scrunched up in a corner of her bunk, leaving her in just a sports bra. Catra hadn’t even noticed her take it off. Her hair was loose for once. Probably only because Glimmer threatened to cut all the elastics in reach in half if she didn’t stop sleeping with her hair up. It hung messily in her face which was pressed into the pillow, strands sticking to her cheeks and forehead.

She yanked back her hand which had somehow drifted forward to.. what? Fix the blanket? Move her hair out of her eyes? To-

God, the heat was killing any ounce of sense she had left. 

Glimmer was nowhere to be found when Catra finally made it outside. The heat hit like she’d been locked in a sauna the second she turned from closing the door. It was instantaneous and she spent the next twenty minutes standing at the top of the swim dock stairs, eyeing the lake, debating whether it’d be worth it.

In the end, she ended up deciding to check out the Beacon. Even if Glimmer hadn’t ended up there, it was a nice place to clear her head.

She couldn’t decide if being in the forest made the humidity better or worse. Her hair was still a wild mess and she was still sweating buckets. As she ducked under another branch, she slapped away a mosquito with an annoyed hiss. Yeah, this was definitely worse. At least she could avoid stupid bugs in the open. 

It was a relief to break out into the open air of the familiar clearing for approximately two seconds. She let out a long sigh of relief only for the breath to catch in her throat when she realized Glimmer was staring right at her and she hadn’t exactly thought past the vague idea that this very thing might happen.

What the hell was she supposed to do now?

Even if Glimmer had gone right here after she left the cabin, Catra’s lake debate had only set her back by about fifteen minutes. Glimmer had probably only been here for that long, maybe less. And now Catra was here, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Her face burned when she realized how this looked. It- wait, how did this look? She still hadn’t said anything. Glimmer was staring at her, confusion dancing across her face.

The words caught in her throat. Not that she really had any words. She needed to say something. She probably looked incredibly stupid right now. She swallowed and blurted something out.

“I didn’t follow you!” Stupid. What the hell are words.. ugh. “I mean, uh- I saw you leave. But I ended up here on my own.” Maybe if she blinked hard enough the pounding behind her eyes would go away… that didn’t even make sense. Sounded like something Adora would come up with on the fly. “I didn’t even think you’d come here.” Liar. 

She flinched when Glimmer laughed. It was warm and airy. The other girl patted the spot beside her. Catra rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly before pulling her hand away in disgust. It really was horrifying out.

“You coming?”

The softness in her voice sent Catra reeling. This wasn’t even that weird anymore. But it wasn’t exactly normal yet. It was stuck in a weird in-between that knocked the air out of Catra’s lungs and made her want to do anything but sit down inches away from the other girl.

But she listened.

She crept forward slowly, eliciting another giggle from Glimmer. She could feel her ears burning, for once glad that the humidity helped her hair hide it so well.

“I’m not gonna bite,” encouraged Glimmer. 

Catra scowled. “I know that.” She crouched and moved to let her legs dangle off the edge of the cliff. There was only about a foot between her and Glimmer. It was close enough to make her feel ten times as warm as she already was. 

When she was finally sitting, one leg pulled up against her chest, the other dangling, she rested her chin on her knee, staring out across the ravine. The moon wasn’t out tonight, but she could still see the bits of glass on the ground on the other side. They glowed even without the light to reflect off them. Or maybe she was just tired. She rubbed her eyes before moving her hand to lift her hair off her neck. She should’ve grabbed an elastic. 

Glimmer was staring at her. She could feel her gaze picking her apart, trying to think of something to say, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away from the other side. A few minutes passed. She could practically hear Glimmer thinking. It was less anxiety-inducing than she thought it would be though. It was almost… nice.

Her hands found her hair again, trying to relieve literally any of the slimy warmth she was experiencing that she could. Is this what summers in Brightmoon were like? They were reaching the end of July...this was such a weird time to suddenly boil everyone to death. 

Storm City was dry. Dry summers, dry winters. Practically a desert. All the time. She was used to that and hoped to get the same from Brightmoon. The cities weren’t that far apart. Kind of. If you considered a seven-hour drive not that far. Well, five and a half hours from Camp Brightmoon.

A five and a half-hour drive she was not looking forward to. But she didn’t have any other plans for the one week break in between sessions. So back to Scorpia’s apartment she would be going. At the very least so she could do laundry and shove her feelings or whatever down the drain in peace. 

She jumped when Glimmer spoke, yanking her out of her thoughts. Her heart leapt into her throat when she realized Glimmer was resting a hand on her arm and looking curiously at her.

“You okay?”

“I should be asking you that. I found you first.”

“Yeah, well, I beat you to it.”

Catra shrugged. What was she supposed to say? She wasn’t not okay. In fact, she was probably better than she had been in like four years. Which was the entire problem. She nearly ran a hand down her face in frustration but stopped herself. That would give away any semblance of sanity she had left. Because yeah, this--whatever it was--was driving her insane. That and she could feel the layer of sweat coating her face and that was just- gross. “Yeah, I’m fine, Sparkles. I’m only up because I noticed you leave.”

Catra was looking at her now and watched Glimmer’s doubt slide down into an almost annoyed pout. “If you noticed me leave that means you were awake,” she countered. “Why were you awake?”

“I asked you first.”

“You didn’t even actually ask me anything!”

She crossed her arms, staring the brunette down, and Catra found herself smirking. “Okay, why are you awake? Figured after all that dancing you did today, you’d be out like a light.”

The blush that crawled across Glimmer’s face was satisfying enough. Catra turned slightly more towards the other girl, inching closer, and waited, the knee tucked up against her chest the only thing between them.

“You were out there almost as long as I was,” responded Glimmer, the corner of her lip pulling upward at her words. “Why couldn’t you sleep?”

“Probably this ridiculous heat,” Catra muttered, shoving her hair out of her face again. It wasn’t a complete lie. The heat really did make it hard to relax.

Glimmer hummed. She pulled a hair elastic off her wrist and handed it to Catra. “You’ve been messing with your hair ever since you got here,” was the only explanation she gave. 

Catra eyed her before taking it and tying her hair up into an extremely messy high ponytail. The air that hit the back of her neck wasn’t even cool, it was still wet and warm, but it was still a relief. She sighed. Glimmer caught her eye and smiled shyly. 

She relaxed. Or tried to. Slowly, she released her leg, letting both hang over the ledge, and leaned back onto her hands. She exhaled slowly through her nose. She felt exposed. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. She just needed to push back against her instinct to hide. Totally doable. Totally. 

The silence was nice. She didn’t want to ruin it, but she had a feeling Glimmer wanted to say something. So after a few more minutes of quietly looking between the other girl and the Beacon, Catra said, in nearly a whisper, “Thanks.” She cleared her throat. “For, uh, the elastic. It helped.”

And there was that smile again. Both shy and cocky, though Catra wasn’t sure how it could be both.

It made her stomach do flips and her heart jump into her throat.

“You’re welcome. I stole Adora’s.”

Catra laughed. “I was wondering about that.”

“Sometimes it’s the only way,” Glimmer replied, shrugging her shoulders. She shifted her sitting position, moving a few inches closer to Catra. It was barely noticeable, but Catra still caught it, freezing in place, fighting off every instinct that told her to move further away. 

Or move closer.

Glimmer was looking at her again, head tilted. Catra was nearly holding her breath. She just waited. When Glimmer finally spoke, it was not what she had been expecting (not that she really knew what she was expecting).

“Do you have plans for the break?”

Glimmer looked almost as surprised as Catra felt when the words left her mouth. 

“I’m, uh,” she started, grasping at the words she wanted to say, “going to Scorpia’s probably.”

“Oh okay.” The disappointment that crossed Glimmer’s face almost hurt.

Catra bit the inside of her cheek, trying to figure out what to do now. “Why?” was all she could get out. 

Glimmer’s gaze flicked back to meet hers. “I thought…” she trailed off, brows pinching together. “You said that you didn’t have a place in Brightmoon yet, so I was going to ask if you wanted to come back to my parents’ place with Adora and me.” She flushed deeply as soon as she said it. “Bow will probably be there at some point, but he has his own place. I just thought I’d offer. It’s closer. I didn’t know if you already had plans and thought it’d be fun if we all got to hang out outside of the camp setting. But if you already have plans, it’s not a big deal.”

Catra blinked. She couldn’t fully take in what was being asked. An entire week with Adora and Glimmer. Outside camp. “Are you asking me to go on a road trip with you?” she sputtered.

The growing worry on Glimmer’s face shattered as a loud laugh escaped her. “I’d hardly call it a road trip. It’s like an hour maybe.”

Catra’s head was spinning, but she still managed to put on a face of mock horror. “How fast do you drive?” she exclaimed. “That drive is a solid hour and a half on a good day!”

Glimmer scoffed. “I don’t drive that fast.”

“You’re gonna kill us.”

“Is that a yes?”

Catra paused. Was it? Did she really want to spend the whole week with them? Did they want to spend the whole week with her? Yeah, they’d been basically living together for over a month now, but this was different. This was an invitation. An active choice. It made her feel light-headed.

She was already speaking the words before she had even made a final decision. “Yeah, sure, Sparkles.”

The words were calm and casual. Everything she was not at that moment. She wondered if Glimmer could feel how hard her heart was beating with how close they’d gotten. Wait, when had they gotten this close?

In her triumph Glimmer pulled Catra into a tight hug. Catra felt like she might just collapse right there, but instead, she froze. Glimmer pulled back almost as quickly as she had thrown her arms around the other girl. “Shit, I’m sorry, I got excited.”

“It-It’s okay,” Catra stammered, crossing her arms and hugging herself. “I just- I don’t-”

Glimmer looked upset now and Catra felt bad. She inched a bit closer to the other girl but kept her arms closed over herself. Her body was still angled away slightly, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn and face Glimmer properly.

There was an awkward silence hanging in the air. Catra wondered how much of a running start she’d need to get across to the Beacon. Her gaze was downcast and she could see just how far down the ravine went. It was weird something like that was so close to camp.

“Are…” Glimmer started. Catra could hear the worry in her voice and it made her chest tighten painfully. “Are you okay? I didn’t think-”

Catra bit the inside of her cheek and forced herself to turn to face Glimmer. She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I just… didn’t expect it.” She pushed herself to smile. It was small and soft. “Really, Sparkles. It’s fine.”

Glimmer didn’t look quite convinced, but let it go. She smiled back. “Okay,” she said simply. Catra was surprised she didn’t push further. She almost sighed in relief. This was okay. Good, even. She just didn’t want things to be awkward again.

Her thoughts drifted as the silence moved into something more comfortable. A whole week with Glimmer and Adora. At Glimmer’s house. After a nearly two hour drive there. Oh stars, how would she even survive this week? For a split second, she debated changing her mind. She’d already agreed though. And she couldn’t stand the idea of Glimmer looking disappointed twice in one night. 

Glimmer had started humming quietly. It was… nice. Catra found herself blushing at the thought. Just over a month ago, that was the last thing she’d think in this scenario. Everything that was happening… the entire concept that they could sit beside each other in comfortable silence without hurling barely concealed insults at each other. 

Three weeks earlier they’d revelled in pissing each other off. Not that she didn’t still enjoy it, but it wasn’t as… the last thing she wanted was to hurt her.

God, this was getting sappy. This was exactly what she needed to get away to deal with. And yet, she agreed almost instantly to the ridiculous idea of spending a whole week with both of the other girls.

Stupid.

The sun was starting to peek over the horizon. Catra blinked as warm sun rays began to hit her face. What time was it? She looked at her watch. It was nearly shower hour. Already?

She nearly jumped out of her skin when Glimmer’s arm brushed hers again. The other girl must’ve felt her tense because she stopped humming and looked at her with concern. It dawned on her a second later and she scooted away just a few inches. Disappointment tugged at Catra and she frowned.

“It’s okay,” she said.

Glimmer tilted her head. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She felt like she should give a better explanation, but Glimmer was already nodding in agreement. It was funny how the whole four-word conversation made her smile brighter than the sun. Catra wanted to hide as soon as she felt her face heat up again. And not from the sun.

“Should we head back?”

The sun was slowly revealing itself. It was usually quite a trek back. “Yeah, let’s go. I need a shower to get rid of this sticky feeling.”

Glimmer laughed. “Yeah me too.”

Catra uncurled from herself as Glimmer stood. Despite the terrible heat, the sun did feel nice on her face. Glimmer reached out a hand to help her up. After a moment of hesitation, she reached up and grabbed her hand.

Glimmer let go as soon as Catra stood up. Catra fought off her disappointment, shoving it as far down and away as she could. She smirked at Glimmer instead and was happily surprised when the other girl flushed.

And she definitely didn’t miss every time Glimmer brushed their hands together on the walk back. Maybe that was okay for now.

***

“Shut up and listen for a second,” whined Glimmer from beside Adora.

They were sitting at one of the tables in the dining hall, waiting for Micah to go over tomorrow’s all-day programming, surrounded by their friends. Most of the counsellors were there, chatting away, voices echoing around the large hall. This time of day was the only time most of them could make it in for these meetings and even then a few faces were missing from the crowd. 

Catra was grinning widely. “I’m listening, princess.”

Adora rolled her eyes, holding back a laugh at the obvious amusement in Catra’s voice. Glimmer was pouting. Wrapping an arm around the smaller girl, Adora pressed a kiss to her temple, snickering softly into her hair.

Adora noticed Catra’s amusement waver slightly, the corner of her smirk twitching, but she just tilted her head and continued to look at Glimmer expectantly. 

Glimmer scoffed. “You’re such a pain.”

“I’m listening!”

“Yeah, now!”

Catra stuck her tongue out in response.

Before Adora could add anything, the dining hall doors swung open and Micah rushed in. His face was red from the heat, but he looked excited.

“Hey, sorry guys!” He slid to a stop at the front of the hall and looked around. “I got yanked into a conversation with a couple of campers. But I’m here now!” He looked at the digital watch he had on. “Aaand we only have ten minutes until dinner. I’ll make this quick. It’s mostly just about team leaders for tomorrow.”

The last of the chatter filling the room died out and Micah quickly had everyone’s attention. Well, everyone except Glimmer and Catra. Adora could feel both of them childishly kicking each other under the table and when she glanced at them, Catra was smirking daringly at Glimmer who was flipping her gaze between Catra, her dad and Adora, the smallest trace of her earlier pout hanging off her lips.

Adora found the whole thing pretty funny though. As long as one of them got the information, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Micah had started rambling again, but Adora’s attention was now on the two girls she sat with. Glimmer scrunched up her nose cutely when Adora caught her eye before the expression dissolved into outcry when Catra leaned forward and pushed a finger into her cheek with a barely contained snort. 

Glimmer shoved her hand away and leaned more deeply into Adora, trying to hide from Catra’s prodding. Adora giggled. “Pay attention,” she whispered.

“You pay attention,” Catra and Glimmer both responded instantly. They broke out into giggles and Adora felt her cheeks heat up in response.

Micah cleared his throat. The three of them looked over. “Oh, uh, sorry, we’re listening,” Adora stammered, the fire on her face intensifying. Glimmer and Catra snickered their way through their apologies but managed to quiet down and listen.

“We’re doing Colour Wars as I’m sure you all know,” Micah finally started explaining. “This year we have enough campers and counsellors for four teams! So the team colours are red, blue, purple and green.” He pulled a tiny notebook out of his pocket and flipped through a few pages. “Red team leaders will be… Scorpia, Catra and Entrapta.”

Scorpia cheered, playfully elbowing Catra who sat beside her. Catra grinned back at her as Entrapta perked up and shot a pleased look at her co-leaders, eyes widening brightly.

“Blue team is Adora, Netossa and Sea Hawk.”

Sea Hawk jumped up, leaning over Mermista and Glimmer to high five Adora. Adora grinned and nodded at Netossa with a determined look. Netossa returned it with a smirk.

“Green will be Perfuma, Spinnerella and Double Trouble.”

Double Trouble clasped their hands together with an overjoyed expression. Perfuma and Spinnerella shared an excited look before focusing back on Micah.

“Lastly, the purple team will consist of Bow, Glimmer and Mermista.”

Mermista nodded slowly, a grin spreading across her face, muttering a short “cool” as Glimmer and Bow high-fived across the table.

Micah looked at his watch again. “Alright, now that we’ve gone over that… dinner is in five minutes. Fix the tables and put out dishes for your campers. Don’t forget to divide your cabin into the four colours tonight!”

Adora’s hand found Glimmer’s as they stood and headed to the usual table of their cabin. Glimmer was finally explaining what the day would consist of to Catra who was nodding along. Adora could tell by her wandering gaze and half raised eyebrow that Catra was only hearing half the words and they would definitely have to explain it again tomorrow. 

Glimmer seemed happy to talk though. Her eyes were bright and a challenging smile was pulling at her lips as she explained the final part of the day: The Fire-Starter.

She couldn’t be sure whether it was the obvious bold challenge in Glimmer’s tone or the actual activity itself, but Catra was fully invested now, even pausing in grabbing plates to lean forward onto the table slightly.

“Wait, so we literally just have to get the fire big and hot enough to boil the water in the tin over the edge?” she asked.

Glimmer nodded, grabbing a stack of plates from the cart that was passing by them and handing them to Adora. “Yeah, pretty much. I mean it doesn’t guarantee you’ll win the whole day if you were losing by a lot, but usually, it’s close enough that it seals the deal.”

“Ooooohhhh, I’m gonna kick your ass, Sparkles.” Catra’s smirk widened and Adora bit back a laugh. Instead, she snorted and Catra spun on her, eyebrow arched. “What, you don’t think I can?”

Adora shook her head. “No, you totally can.”

Glimmer gasped indignantly. “Wow, how supportive.” She was grinning anyway.

With a roll of her eyes, Adora tucked some hair behind Glimmer’s ear and planted a light kiss on her temple. “Glim, we both know-”

Glimmer shoved a hand over Adora’s mouth. “Yeah, yeah I know.” She rolled her eyes, taking her hand off Adora’s mouth and elbowing her in the side instead. “Besides, it’s Adora and Sea Hawk you have to worry about. They won last year and set the new record.” 

Adora rubbed her side with a sheepish grin. “Yeah, we did. It’s really fun.” She picked up a stack of cups and began placing them around the table. One for each plate. She wiggled her brows at Catra who was watching her with a smug interest. “We could have a more personal competition,” she suggested, rubbing pinched fingers together in front of Catra’s face. “Like when we were kids.”

Catra scoffed, pushing Adora’s hand away playfully. “Oh, you’re on! I always won when we were kids and I doubt that’s changed.”

“Whatever you want to tell yourself.”

“Shut up.”

Adora mimed zipping her lips, amusement shining in her eyes. Catra reached across the table and shoved her shoulder back, knocking her into Glimmer who was holding two jugs of water, laughter bursting from both girls.

It only worsened when Glimmer nearly gasped, “Watch it! You guys are gonna spill the water jugs all over the table.”

Adora tried to bite down on her laughter, struggling immensely while Catra wheezed, collapsing onto the back bench of the table. Glimmer was rolling her eyes again, a few giggles pushing past her lips.

They were interrupted by the dinner bell being rung outside. It echoed loudly in the dining hall and they quickly realized the rest of the counsellors had left. Every table but theirs was fully set. Glimmer placed the water jugs down on the table and pointed from the other girls to the table. “Finish up, I’ll get the girls.”

Adora nodded, circling around to shove Catra in retaliation. "I'll save you a seat."

Catra smirked as she dodged Adora. "I'll save you one too and we'll see what unoriginal matchmaking plots the kids continue with." She poked Adora on the forehead. Adora made a disgruntled sound and pushed her head away. 

Glimmer rolled her eyes at their antics. "Behave you two."

Adora just grinned. "When do we not?"

"Literally all the time."

Adora shared a mischievous look with Catra. Yeah, maybe Glimmer had a point.

Catra hummed. "Don't worry, Sparkles. Go get the kids."

Glimmer raised a brow. "I'll be right back."

"We know," Adora cut in.

Glimmer stuck her tongue out, scrunching up her nose cutely in response. Adora just grinned.

Adora grabbed the last of the dishes, handing some to Catra, as Glimmer headed out to meet the girls. She watched the brunette place the utensils while she placed the last of the cups.

Catra’s hair was up in a ponytail today, but her bangs still hung in her eyes. She was wearing a pale blue Camp Brightmoon tank top she’d bought at the tuck shop when they took the campers there earlier in the week for their own souvenirs. It made the golden colour of one eye look brighter and the blue of the other look darker. 

Adora took in the slight upward quirk of Catra’s lips as she worked. A trace of their earlier playfulness. She swallowed. It had been a long time since she really just looked at Catra. Not since they were younger. Not since before… she hadn’t let herself look since then. She probably shouldn’t be falling down this rabbit hole again, but it was so easy.

Catra tilted her head. “What?”

Adora didn’t say anything, a faint smile tugging at her lips. She could feel the back of her neck burning.

“Stop staring, dummy.”

“I’m not!”

“You are!”

Catra’s teasing expression made Adora feel warm, sending butterflies afloat in her stomach and chest. The feeling was so different from how Glimmer made her feel, but it was just as familiar and just… nice.

Another shove from Catra pulled her out of her thoughts. She stumbled and looked back at Catra with a laugh. “What was that for?”

Catra snorted. “Weirdo.”

“Rude!”

“Can’t hear you! Going to get the food!” called Catra as she strode off toward the kitchen window.

Adora stuck out her tongue despite Catra not looking at her. She slipped in at the table, placing her elbows on the surface around her plate and resting her chin in her hand. Humming to herself, she waited for Catra to come back with the first parts of the dinner.

Shouts from outside echoed into the dining hall. Occasionally she could make out what someone was saying, but mostly it was just gibberish. She heard someone calling attention. It sounded like Glimmer. It probably was. 

Catra wandered back to the table, placing a tray down before sliding into the seat across from Adora. She raised a brow. It took Adora a minute to realize the goofy smile she was wearing. She blushed.

“Whichever cabin can do the best impression of Director Micah gets to go inside first!” they heard Glimmer shout outside.

Catra snickered. Adora’s smile widened. Micah would get Glimmer back for that later. It wasn’t too often people who did the mealtime announcements targeted each other in some good-hearted teasing, but when it did happen it was usually Glimmer and Micah. 

Within a few minutes, the doors swung open and the hall began to fill with campers and counsellors ready for dinner after a long day of activities. A flood of sound followed the crowd and Adora shared an amused look with Catra.

Their campers ran up to the table. After assessing for a moment, they seemed to figure out where everyone was sitting. One of the girls slid right up beside Adora while the rest of the girls very plainly left an empty spot beside Catra. Adora’s brow furrowed. She couldn’t exactly tell them to move; that Glimmer was going to sit beside her. And they absolutely knew that.

Catra was scowling. She hated being the singled out victim of the girls’ schemes even if she was most often amused by their shenanigans. The expression softened though when Glimmer sighed and slid into the seat beside her, elbowing her with a teasing expression.

Catra muttered something and Glimmer snorted. The reaction brought forth a pleased expression from Catra. Soon enough they were playfully arguing over something Adora hadn’t quite caught over the bustle of the dining hall.

Adora watched them with a soft smile. She felt warm all over and it wasn’t just from being squished so tightly between campers. Glimmer caught her eye with a dazzling smile. Adora smiled, feeling her face get hot.

Catra laughed. Adora felt her heart skip a beat at the sound. She wanted nothing more than… this.

Both girls. The two people who mattered to her the most in the world. This was perfect.

Well, almost. 

***

It was gorgeous out.

The heat of the last two days seemed to let up just enough for everyone to actually enjoy the day's activities. The sun was shining, the air literally felt lighter, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. It was the perfect day for the classic camp favourite of Colour Wars.

The morning had gone by in a rush of activities. They'd split the campers up into their teams and breakfast kicked the day off with announcing the prizes for the day.

First place would get ten extra tuck points to spend on candy at the tuck shop. Second would get seven. Third would get five. And finally, fourth place would get three.

But the day was hardly about the prizes. They were just for fun and to add a little wager to their competition.

The real meaning of the day was kicking your cabinmate's butts in every single rotation activity all over camp. And for the less physically inclined campers, there were art competitions and the race to collect as much firewood and kindling as humanly possible throughout the day to boost your team's chances at winning the big finale.

Glimmer stood with her hand on her hip, staring at the scoreboard posted out front of the dining hall. It was lunchtime and Blue and Red were tied. Her team wasn't far behind but still, she eyed the board with disdain.

This was twenty dollars she knew she'd lose to Adora's team but she figured it'd balance out with the twenty she'd be getting from Catra. 

Because, well, duh.

This was her arena and she was getting her butt kicked.

A laugh that was becoming increasingly familiar and more often than not set her stomach fluttering with stupid butterflies came from behind her.

"Underestimated me, huh, Sparkles?"

Glimmer could hear Catra's smirk before she even turned around to face her. The brunette had her arms crossed and a brow raised smugly. Glimmer fought off the urge to childishly stick her tongue out at the girl. "You wish. We've got relay after lunch and I always win relay."

Catra hummed. "Sure, but you've never competed against me."

"And you've never competed against me."

Glimmer waited for another retort, but instead, Catra just uncrossed her arms and shrugged before shoving her hands in her pockets. The mischievous glint in her eye told Glimmer she didn't need a response.

With a playful eye roll, Glimmer asked, "Is Adora still in the dining hall?"

Catra nodded. "Playing hype man with Sea Hawk and Netossa? Like you wouldn't believe." She made a face.

Glimmer laughed. "Yeah, they did the same thing last year."

"She said, and I quote," Catra snickered, holding up air quotes, " 'the adventure of winning'."

A hand flew up to Glimmer's mouth as she tried to stifle her giggles.

"Seahawk," they both deadpanned.

Catra's face flushed nearly the same red colour as the paint on her face. Glimmer could feel her whole face burning. She looked away. Catra cleared her throat.

After an awkward moment of silence, Glimmer mumbled, still not looking at the other girl, "I'm gonna go find Adora."

She assumed Catra nodded based on the silence, but she couldn't be sure. She glanced back at the other girl. Catra was looking right at her, a cute blush still coating her cheeks and her mouth hanging open slightly. 

Her ears burned. "See you when I kick your butt?"

Catra's soft stare broke into a sly smile. "You wish, princess."

Now Glimmer stuck her tongue out at her. Catra laughed. Glimmer took the opportunity to head off into the dining hall.

The dining hall was loud. Even louder than usual. But the noise was a great distraction from her annoyingly loud thoughts.

Adora and Seahawk were standing together on the makeshift, extra-long table that held the entirety of the Blue team. Bow was standing at the end of the Purple table with a wide grin. The furthest back into the hall, Double Trouble was standing on the Green table. The Red table was flush against the back of the hall and crowded with kids staring up at Scorpia.

Adora and Sea Hawk were leading the whole hall in an extremely loud, shouty rendition of some pop music song that had somehow become a Colour War battle song tradition (Don't ask, summer camp was on a whole other level).

Glimmer found herself grinning at the display. Everybody looked like they were having the time of their lives, faces red and voices hoarse from screaming the song, among others, since they'd finished their lunch.

She waited for the song to get closer to the end, knowing another one would start back up right away, hoping she could pull Adora away for a moment to talk about the… situation she may have gotten them into.

Was it even a situation?

She hardly thought inviting Catra along for the mid-summer break would be a problem for anyone or anything except maybe her own nagging feelings. It had just been a little too impulsive. Maybe. Definitely.

She really should've talked to Adora first.

It was a little late now though.

But it was fine. Things were going okay between all of three of them. Great, even. It was just getting a little too… complicated? Maybe. Oh jeez, what if- no, it was fine. She was just overthinking it.

She just had to mention it. Casually.

If she was freaking out, Adora would freak out. And there was no reason to freak out so why would they do that?

It would be fine. 

The song faded for a few minutes and was replaced by loud talking. Glimmer could see Double Trouble kneeling to stage-whisper to his team. Probably to start another chant or song.

Glimmer stepped forward from her spot and tugged on Adora's hand. Adora looked down at her and beamed. She nodded her head to the door meaningfully. Adora seemed to get the message, quickly telling Sea Hawk she'd be right back, and climbed off the table.

They headed outside into the sunny afternoon. Glimmer glanced around as they headed over to the somewhat secretive spot where they had had their first confession attempts interrupted by rain. The memory made Glimmer want to laugh now instead of, yknow, taking a knife to the universe.

Adora settled onto the rocks beside Glimmer. Out of habit, she worried on her bottom lip, but her gaze was easy and her whole body was relaxed. "What's up, Glim?"

Glimmer's brow pinched together as she tried to figure out how to say it.

Calm. Casual. Not freaking out at all. She would just-

"I maybe possibly sort of invited Catra to come back to my parents' house with us over the mid-summer break," she blurted out and then winced.

Wow. So very calm and casual.

Adora blinked. "So by that, you mean you definitely did invite Catra back to your parents' house with us over the mid-summer break?"

Glimmer nodded, picking uselessly at the rock she sat atop of. "I probably should've mentioned it to you first since well, it's Catra, but it was kind of impulsive."

"Mm yeah," Adora responded, her brow furrowing as she took in the information. "I mean, I don't not like the idea."

"Yeah, me either."

"I actually think I like the idea. It'll be fun, yknow? It could be really good."

Or really bad. 

Glimmer shook the thought away. "I think so."

Adora leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand. "I'm surprised she agreed to come." She chuckled.

Glimmer nodded. "Me too, honestly. She said she was supposed to go to Scorpia's."

"She chose us?"

"I guess so."

Adora grinned so brightly Glimmer was sure she'd be temporarily blind. Instead, she just smiled back and leaned forward to peck Adora on the lips. She pulled back with a satisfied grin.

Their fingers tangled together across the stone. The feeling of her hand in Adora's and Adora's hand in hers made Glimmer feel warm and safe.

Glimmer bit the inside of her cheek. "So you're okay? Even if I didn't talk to you first."

Adora nodded happily. "Yeah, Glim. This will be fun."

Glimmer let out a long breath. "Okay."

"You ready to kick everybody's butts in relay?" asked Adora.

"Hell yeah!"

Adora grinned.

Glimmer kissed her again.

***

So Glimmer may have been right about relay being her specialty.

The Purple team had wiped the floor with the other teams, raking in a large number of points, but in the end, it wasn't quite enough.

That left Red and Blue still tied for first.

It also left those team leaders to battle it out in the final challenge. The other team leaders would cheer alongside the entire camp while they worked to win the last challenge.

Catra was determined to turn the twenty bucks she'd be getting from Glimmer into forty by the end of the day. If only to wipe the smug smile off Adora's face when the final scoreboard before the challenge was revealed at dinner time.

The energy was at an all-time high after dinner. Campers were sprinting ahead of their team leaders, covered head to toe in fresh warpaint, screaming and shouting and cheering their team cheers. Catra was lagging behind a bit, happy to take her time on the way to the playfield near the back of the camp property where the challenge would be held.

She was thinking about more than just the challenge though.

After seeing Glimmer and Adora sneak off, Catra had headed into the dining hall. She didn't think much of the apparent secret meeting the two were having (it's not like she cared or whatever) until Adora mentioned at dinner that she was excited to hang out with Catra over the break. She actually put it more like:

"Glimmer told me she invited you with us on break! It'll be so fun, I'm sure. We can explore Brightmoon together. I can show you all my favourite spots near campus and around town and-"

Catra had forced herself to tune out at that point before she turned to sand and blew away. At least that's what it felt like.

Adora knowing and being excited was a whole other thing than the surreal comfort of pre-dawn hours on a cliffside with Glimmer. Not that her answer would've been any different if Adora had asked her.

God, that almost made it worse.

When had this gotten so complicated?

Anyway, the whole thing had reminded her that she hadn't even mentioned this to Scorpia and Entrapta. And that she better do it soon.

It just kind of… sucked. She didn't want to disappoint them. Especially Scorpia. But she'd kind of already stupidly agreed.

She glanced ahead of her. Scorpia was just a few feet in front of Catra, chatting animatedly with Entrapta. Most of the kids on their team had run off, trying to get there first to get a good view of everything. Taking a deep breath to calm her guilty nerves, she sped up to match their pace.

Scorpia noticed her right away. "Catra, hey! You excited to win this or what?"

Catra smirked. "Of course I am. Adora owes me twenty bucks."

Entrapta tilted her head. "You made bets?"

"Yep," Catra replied, popping the 'p'. 

Entrapta hummed. "I see."

Scorpia looked ready to start rambling, but Catra opened her mouth first, knowing if she didn't say it now, she never would.

"So uh... I may have agreed to go to... down to Sparkles' house with her and Adora for the break," Catra said, guilt filling her voice. 

Scorpia beamed. "Oh! That's awesome!" 

Entrapta jumped in front of Catra nearly knocking her off her feet. She was eyeing the brunette weirdly. "That's a good thing. Why do you sound guilty?" 

Catra's brows knit together with confusion as she slowed her pace so she didn't trample over Entrapta. "But I'm ditching you guys..." She shook her head. "Aren't you mad?" 

"No?" Entrapta replied, moving to let Catra walk at a normal speed. 

Scorpia laughed. "No way, Wildcat. You would probably mope all week anyway. This is better." She put a hand on her chin thoughtfully before adding, "You can just come over on the long weekend after school starts." 

Catra's ears burned as she retorted, "I wouldn't mope!" 

Scorpia waved her off with a grin. "Come on we're falling behind."

Pfft, mope all week. She wouldn't mope all week. What was there to mope about? Certainly not her co-counsellors. 

Her brow pinched together.

She wouldn't-

Huffing sharply, she jogged to catch up with the rest of the group. They quickly reached the backfield and she spotted Adora and Glimmer right away. They waved to her. She waved back awkwardly, her mind still racing from what Scorpia said.

She didn't mope. Especially not over her ex-best friend (was that still applicable?) and the camp princess. What a waste of time… it didn't matter how nice they were being to her or the fluttery feeling she got every time either of them looked at her exactly like they were looking at her right now...

Ugh, maybe she would mope.

She hated when people were right.

Scorpia was waving her over now. Whatever. It was game time. She would kick Adora's ass and worry about the icky feeling stuff later.

Maybe.

Ignoring it sounded better.

She settled into her spot near the fire pit, tense and ready, waiting for that start command.

It came a moment later.

"Ready. Set. Go!"

She'd think about this later.

***

The main goal of the challenge was to build a fire faster than the other team that would be hot enough to boil the water in the tin hanging above said fire over the sides. Whichever team did it first would be named the Colour Wars champions of the session. 

The losers would congratulate the winners in the name of good sportsmanship and then in a "ceremony", everyone would sprint back to the dock stairs and watch as the winners pushed the losers into the lake from The Tower. Afterwards, everyone would get to go back to the dining hall for a colour themed snack before heading back to their cabins for an early night in.

But that was later.

Right now everyone was yelling and cheering and stomping in a large circle surrounding the two fire pits and the teams that were working furiously at them.

Glimmer had been doing this since she was six years old and she was more than happy to be back in the crowd instead of making the fires like last year. She did not envy the idea of being surrounded by screaming campers in front of a blazing fire. It was fun once and once only. Even if she did have to admit defeat to avoid it.

She was cheering loudly along with the crowd. A few minutes in the crowd divided itself into two cheers: one for red and one for blue. Except they would yell them at the same time, trying their best to out yell the other half of the group. Glimmer was bouncing between the two, figuring she didn't have much to lose at this point. 

Other than 40 bucks.

The fires were slowly starting to catch, growing in size just as slowly. It was agonizing to watch.

She could see Adora's face turning red from the heat just like it did the year before, the back of her neck slick with sweat. She was grinning though. Their fire was growing faster. Sea Hawk was huffing as much air into the flame as he could while Adora stuck in branch after branch that Netossa had cracked into small pieces on her knee.

When she looked over at Catra, her face was much less red and she had a calm determination hanging over her. Despite this, Glimmer could see the sweat from the hot flames shining on her exposed arms and neck. From where Glimmer was standing, she could see the fire reflecting in her mismatched eyes. Entrapta was methodically placing kindling and branches into the pit while Scorpia broke the bigger pieces into smaller pieces and said something to Catra that Glimmer could hear over the loud cheers.

The next twenty minutes passed agonizingly slow as everyone waited intently for something to happen.

There were a few close calls, but nothing was enough.

Both teams were getting a little frustrated but were bolstered by a pick-up in the chants and cheers of the crowd surrounding them. Glimmer shouted along with everyone else, encouraging the older kids to join and keeping the younger kids on the sidelines as they all looked ready to jump out and do it themselves.

After another five minutes, everyone was leaning forward expectantly, eyes wide, some cheers still ringing, but mostly waiting in silent anticipation.

And then it finally happened.

Bubbles of boiling water filled the tin and spilled over the edges, cooling down just the slightest bit the fire below it.

Everybody screamed their cheers at the top of their lungs.

"Blue, blue, blue, blue, blue."

Glimmer was laughing.

Adora had fallen right onto her back with a relieved but happy grin on her face. Glimmer caught her eye and blew her a sneaky kiss. Adora reached a hand up in the air and pretended to grab it before letting her arm fall tiredly to the ground again.

Catra was sitting on the ground, knees up and her arms resting gently on top of them. Sweat coated her brow and despite her team's loss, a smile pulled at her lips.

Micah walked into the center of the circle. The two teams scrambled to stand. He looked around at the campers. "So we have a winner! Blue Team takes the championship this year once again!" Everyone cheered. Micah grinned. "As for the red team, well, you all know what that means."

"In the lake! In the lake! In the lake!"

"Let's go then!" 

Campers repeated their earlier antics, yelling and screaming as they headed out of the playfield to the dock stairs. Glimmer shook her head with a laugh. She headed over to the two teams.

"You don't have to go in the lake if you don't want to," Adora was saying when she approached.

Catra nodded, making a sour face. "Yeah, sorry not happening. Maybe next session."

"Oh sure," teased Adora with a laugh.

"Can't believe I don't get to shove you in the lake," complained Catra.

Adora shoved her shoulder. "I don't get to shove you in either."

"That's different."

Adora rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah, I know."

Glimmer giggled. "You guys better get going or you're gonna have a camper riot on your hands."

Catta scoffed. "The things we do for them. They can wait a minute."

"Not for too long though," Adora countered. "Come on, race you to the dock!"

Catra's eyes lit up. "Oh, you're on!"

Glimmer watched them sprint off toward the dock, pushing and shoving each other the whole way until they disappeared from sight. She sighed with a smile.

Is that what they'd been like as kids? She was pretty sure she understood where Adora's competitiveness had come from now. It was an amusing thought.

It only took her five more minutes to walk to the dock stairs. She arrived just in time to watch Adora climb up the Tower and shout out to the crowd. "Where does the Red Team go?"

The campers yelled back. "In the lake! In the lake!

They continued until Adora and Sea Hawk high-fived and jumped forward to push Scorpia and Entrapta into the lake. The crowd shouted their appreciation.

"Now," Sea Hawk called out. "Where shall we go?"

Him and Adora feigned confusion and pretended to start climbing down the ladder.

"No!" Everybody shouted. "In the lake! In the lake!"

"What was that?" Adora shouted back. "I can't hear you!"

The cheer grew louder.

Glimmer spotted Catra in the crowd and made her way over to the other girl, smiling softly. Catra met her with an almost shy expression before turning back and joining the crowd in cheering again.

Sea Hawk went first, diving rather dramatically off the Tower, saluting on his way down.

Adora followed. She did a front flip. The crowd screamed their approval.

With the end of the "ceremony", the crowd began to disperse and head over to the dining hall for evening snack. 

Glimmer and Catra shared a look before heading down the dock stairs to meet Adora. Glimmer wanted a quick dip in the lake anyway. She was covered in paint and dirt from the day.

Adora greeted them with a grin. She was dripping wet. Her eyes shone with mischief as she looked at Catra. "You suuure you don't wanna go in the lake?"

Catra rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth twitched upwards. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure, dummy."

Glimmer was halfway down the swim stairs, legs submerged in the water, when Adora cried out dramatically, "Guess I'll bring the lake to you," before trying to envelop Catra is a sopping wet hug. 

Catra practically shrieked in response. "No way! Get away from me, you idiot!" There was laughter in her voice and Glimmer wanted in on the fun.

She quickly jumped into the lake, surfacing a moment later. Adora was still trying to catch Catra. Both girls were laughing hysterically. 

Glimmer scrambled out of the water, back onto the dock, and grinned wickedly. Without saying a word, she snuck up on the other girls, trying to catch Catra like Adora.

And then, oh man she would regret this, ever so impulsively (she was chock-full of this lately) she captured the brunette in her arms and placed a damp kiss on her cheek.

"Glimmer!" shrieked Catra.

But she didn't even push Glimmer away, she just stayed wrapped in the smaller girl's arms in defeat, her face tinged red amid the water droplets Glimmer had gotten on her cheek.

Adora burst out laughing. Glimmer let out a nervous chuckle as she let Catra go.

Catra touched her cheek.

"Nice one, Glim!" exclaimed Adora once she'd got her laughter under control.

"You got me, Sparkles," Catra's grin was filled with uncertainty, but it was still there.

Glimmer relaxed a little.

Adora entwined their fingers, her smile reassuring. How was she so calm? Glimmer smiled back. 

Catra held up her arms and made a disgusted face. "Now I'm sweaty and damp," she complained.

"Well, the lake is right-"

"Shut up, Adora."

Glimmer snorted. "Should we go join everyone for snack? I'm sure the girls are wondering where we are."

Catra shrugged. "I'm sure they have some ideas."

Adora bumped her shoulder into Catra's and led Glimmer by the hand up the swim stairs while Catra and she fell into an easy conversation.

Glimmer wondered just how far off the girls were.

Or how far off they were not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy okay. it's been a wild few weeks, but I finally wrote the chapter! I have exams this week, but school is completely done for me on Monday for the foreseeable future. At least the future of this fic :P so I'm excited to be able to put more of my brainpower into it and future fics. 
> 
> anyone who's interested and hasn't already seen, I added this fic to a series on my account because I have way too many spin-off and background one-shot ideas so if you care, keep an eye out to see little pieces of the universe Camp Brightmoon is set in. one's already up and it's called "falling". it's just a glimpse into catra and adora growing up together
> 
> and lastly, thank you so much for reading and leaving comments. I read and re-read them all constantly because they're all so sweet <3 <3 and 270 kudos! thank you!! <3


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> adora's gay and oblivious until she's not, yknow. oblivious, that is. she's always gay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was supposed to be a lot longer, but then it was too long so i'm splitting it up lmao. but anyway, it's christmas! merry christmas and happy holidays everyone! thank you so much for almost 300 kudos <3 <3 enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: temporary title change for a joke hhdbdn have fun

The last three days of a session usually flew by faster than anyone wanted. Between the lingering hype from the all-day programming and talent night that night and banquet the next, the days always melded together until you could barely remember what happened on which day, but this session seemed to be dragging on forever. At least that’s what Adora thought. 

She’d spent most of the day in the Adventure area with Huntara, tying harnesses and belaying for kids on the various net crawls, rope climbs and rock walls. It had rained— _ again _ —and the ground was slick with mud. It only made it more interesting for the campers as they tried not to slip off the precarious structures they were climbing. The sun had made its way out for the day, though, and was shining brightly and warmly down on Adora’s face as she looked up to a camper high on the structure that was literally just an array of hanging blocks of wood, rope squares, a whole canoe and a ladder. 

The whole day had crawled by at an agonizing rate. She loved hanging out in Adventure usually and the slowness of the day was why she had volunteered to help Huntara keep track of the ridiculous amount of campers who were moving in and out of the area throughout the day in the first place, but it hadn’t helped much at all. Her thoughts had been wandering too far all day.

Maybe it was just the impending trip back to Brightmoon that made everything seem so much more daunting. There were only three more days until they left. Three more days until she’d have to deal with telling Angella about her and Glimmer. Which, in the scheme of things, was definitely the less daunting task and so, it was all she could think about. At least it stopped her from overthinking the other aspect of the week.

Sort of.

Spending a week with both girls could end up going  _ very well _ or  _ very bad _ . And it hadn't even been her idea! To say she was a little surprised when Glimmer told her about inviting Catra would be the understatement of the year. She was still having trouble wrapping her head around it. She was happy about it. Overly so. But-

The sound of her name being called yanked her out of her thoughts. Her gaze turned abruptly to where the voice had come from. It was Huntara. Shaking off the distracting thoughts, she responded to the taller woman as she approached, "Yeah, what's up?"

"You've had your head in the clouds all day," said Huntara, tossing her a tangled bunch of harnesses. "Someone's gonna get stuck if you don't start paying attention."

Adora could hear the teasing in her voice but knew that she was serious too. She sighed. "Sorry. I'll focus more."

Huntara glanced her up and down before shaking her head. "Nah, why don't you head out for the day. I've got it covered."

Adora's brows pinched with confusion. "No, it's fine. I'll pay more attention."

Huntara laughed. "This isn't the first time I've heard that, blondie." She jabbed a thumb back in the direction of center camp. "Go find your little girlfriend or your grumpy ex. Better yet, both."

"Catra's not my-" Adora began to protest.

Huntara put a hand up. "I really don't care. Come back tomorrow for the climbing competition."

Adora wanted to protest more but instead, she just nodded.

"Better get your head out of the clouds or I'm gonna beat your record tomorrow."

Adora scoffed. "In your dreams!"

Huntara shrugged. "Guess we'll have to see."

"Guess so."

Adora waved off Huntara's grin, dropped the tangle of harnesses and headed down the path leading back to center camp. She kicked a rock down the dirt path, quickly losing it in the woods when she kicked it too far, and tried to think of what to do until dinner. She could go find Glimmer. She hadn’t seen much of her all day since she had disappeared to the music cabin right after breakfast to practise for the talent show that night. But she didn’t want to distract her. Glimmer would do amazing even without the practice, she always did, but Adora could understand the comfort of having done it a few thousand times over before actually showing it to people.

Catra had also disappeared without much of a word of where she’d be all day after breakfast. Adora tried not to think too much of it. The other girl had always had days where she just needed to get away and think. She’d been doing it since they were kids. Adora used to go find her and make sure she was okay, but it didn’t feel right now.

Maybe she should go see what was going on at the Camp Craft area. They probably just had the archery range set up. That’s usually what the last two days consisted of. She glanced around center camp and nodded to herself. Yeah. Archery.

The first thing she heard as she carefully jumped down the makeshift rocky stairs leading down to the archery range was Bow’s voice.

“Range open!”

He was perched on one of the log seats, watching four kids ready their bows and nocking their first arrows. She could never understand how he was comfortable perching like that, squat down and on his tiptoes, arms crossed on his knees. Though he never stayed in one place long. Even as she approached, he was up and helping a younger boy nock an arrow in his bow.

He grinned when she reached him, but focused on the range. Everyone was ready. “Fire away!”

Arrows flew through the air followed by a mixture of cheers and groans as they hit or missed their targets. The flurry of activity passed quickly and Bow finally called out, “Range closed! Go get your arrows. Three each!”

One of the older girls called back, “We know, Bow! We’ve been doing this all month.”

Bow laughed. “Then hurry up and get them, Cass.”

She giggled and hurried out onto the range. Bow turned to Adora. “Hey! I thought you were gonna be in Adventure all day?”

Adora shrugged, taking up the bench beside his seat. “I was supposed to be, but Huntara said,” she held up air quotes, “‘someone’s going to get stuck if you don’t start paying attention’.”

Bow’s brows shot up and he let out a loud laugh. “Did someone get stuck?”

“No!” Adora exclaimed. “Of course not. She said  _ if _ . I’ve just been a little preoccupied.”

Bow nodded in understanding. He looked back over the range and then back at Adora. “Are you—Range open!—sorry, are you worried about going back to Glim’s place?”

“What? No- I mean, not really. Sorta. Why would you think I’m worried?”

Bow shot her a knowing look. “You tend to get stuck in your head when you’re worried.” He looked up again. “Fire away—and you pace. A lot. There’s probably an-”

“-indent in every cabin I’ve slept in, I know I know,” Adora groaned. “I’m not worried.”

“Uh-huh,” Bow replied, looking Adora up and down. “Totally not worried. You’re just bouncing your leg anxiously for no reason. And biting your cheek. And creasing your forehead. And-”

“Bow!”

The boy in question grinned. “I’m kidding. Well, I’m just teasing. You really have nothing to worry about, I promise. And even if you did,” he added, holding up a finger when Adora opened her mouth to argue, “you can always talk to me about it and I’ll do my best to help.”

Adora grumbled to herself, knowing he was right. “You don’t even know what I’m worried about.”

“Range closed!” Bow raised a brow. “Catra. And Glimmer’s mom. But more the first part.”

“How did you even-”

“It’s written all over your face, Adora.” He leaned over the post that marked one end of the archery range and grinned lopsidedly. “Glimmer told me she invited Catra to come down with you guys. I thought things were going well.”

Adora rubbed a hand down her face. “Define  _ things _ .”

Bow laughed. “Things being—Range open!—the obvious crush you and Glimmer both have on her.”

Adora nearly jumped up, her cheeks burning crimson. “W-what?”

Bow raised a hand and dropped it as he called out, “Fire away!” He looked at his watch. “Last round before dinner guys!” He turned back to Adora who was now bright red and stammering profusely. “I said-”

Now Adora did jump up. “I heard what you said! Don’t say it again!” She wrung her hands together. “Glimmer-”

“-is the least subtle person I know after you Adora,” teased Bow.

“Hey!”

“Range closed!” The dinner bell rang out loud and clear as Bow spoke the command. “Grab your arrows and get going to dinner!”

“Bow!”

Bow started down the row of posts that held the bows and grabbed the first one to unstring it for storage. Adora followed him, brows knitted together and face still flushed. Bow turned to her as he unstrung the first bow. “I let you two dance around each other for  _ two years _ . There were  _ bets _ being placed. We’re not doing this again.”

“Wait wait, back up, Glimmer-” she stumbled through the words, her thoughts racing, “-she likes,” she paused, glancing around the archery range. It was mostly empty now, but a few campers were lingering, looking curiously at Bow and Adora. She finished her thought in an exaggerated whisper, “ _ Catra _ .”

“Yeah, of course.”

Adora was reeling. This was…

Bow was laughing again. He handed her a couple of the bows. “Just,” he rested a hand on her arm, “talk to Glimmer. Since clearly, she’s not going to do it.”

The second dinner bell rang out. Adora bit her lip. This… she could think rationally about this. This was a good thing. A great thing. She could talk to Glimmer. And they could talk to Catra. About... whatever it was they needed to talk about. Right. Simple enough. 

She followed Bow to the shed where they kept all the Camp Craft equipment and handed the archery equipment off to him. He stacked the equipment in the corner and locked the shed, hanging the key around his neck. He shot Adora a knowing look. “I only told you this so that you and Glimmer could get on the same page, okay? Try not to think about it too hard.”

Adora shook her head slowly in disbelief. “But what if Glimmer doesn’t- what if  _ Catra _ … how does this help the situation?” She groaned. “What exactly do you expect me to do with this information? I don’t know how- I barely-”

Bow grabbed Adora by the shoulders. “Listen, it’ll work out. You just have to talk to them. Glimmer first.” He squeezed firmly, a reassuring look on his face. “This week is the perfect opportunity. Remember the beginning of the summer? You wanted to fix things with Catra? You said this summer was the best opportunity. It is and it will continue to be. You got this.”

Adora bit her lip. “Okay, yeah. I got this. You’re right.”

Bow beamed. “Yeah! Now c’mon let’s go to dinner. I’m  _ starving _ .”

Adora nodded and let Bow pull her in the direction of the dining hall. There was a large crowd of campers and counsellors gathering to be let in for the last meal of the day. Bow shot her one last reassuring smile before heading off to help Sea Hawk wrangle their cabin together into a somewhat orderly fashion. She took a calming breath before marching toward her own lineup of campers.

Glimmer caught her eye first and smiled warmly. It made her heart flutter. She returned the greeting and nearly melted when Glimmer leaned up against her slightly, still talking with a couple of the girls. It was a simple touch but Adora would never get tired of the little touches and soft smiles.

Catra appeared a few minutes later, wandering from the road leading to the Adventure area path. Her hands were shoved in her pockets and her hair was tied up again. She looked relaxed. Adora knew she had a dumbstruck look on her face when Catra raised a questioning brow. “Hey Adora,” she said simply with a confused, but somehow still smug expression.

Adora wasn’t sure how she was going to handle any sort of conversation about anything that was going on, but if she got to keep having little moments like these, she thought maybe, just maybe, it’d be okay.

***

Talent night was always a long-awaited evening for both campers and counsellors. The show itself was mostly for campers who had some fun skills they wanted to show off, whether it be singing, playing an instrument, telling jokes, or a dance, but there was always a mix of counsellors who participated too. That was usually left to the end to close the night off though.

The whole night felt like how it was to spend all day in A&C and the music cabin. And of course, it was planned and led by Double Trouble every year. Even when they were a camper themselves, it was practically their show. The campers now revelled in it and the counsellors rolled their eyes as they cheered on their antics every year.

Glimmer had participated in the show every session that Adora had been at Camp Brightmoon and every session before that. She’d always loved singing or just helping campers with their own performances. But this year, she hadn’t told Adora what she’d be doing and Adora was kind of dying to know.

Sitting on the not-so-comfy benches they had helped carry out to sit in front of the dining hall, squished in between Catra and Glimmer, Adora watched and cheered on various campers through their performances. A few boys from Bow and Sea Hawk’s cabin put on a comedy skit with their version of a sea shanty shoved in the middle of it. It was, with Sea Hawk’s influence, unsurprisingly adventurous and exciting while also being a nice chance to see the group of boys do something that  _ wasn’t _ falling out of trees and starting fires. And not just campfires.

There were, as always, a lot of songs being sung and played, ranging from guitar to ukulele to one girl who even brought a kalimba. Some were more experienced than others, but all the same, they were cheered on and applauded.

Slowly the night crawled on in a blur of applause and music and gut-busting laughter. Glimmer had quietly slipped her hand into Adora’s with nothing more than a satisfied smile as she continued watching. Catra tensed when Adora pressed their arms closer, leaning slightly into her, but relaxed within a few minutes. Adora took it as a win.

Glimmer wasn’t the first counsellor to go. Scorpia sang a song. Bow and Sea Hawk did a duet. The Star Siblings were practically their own band. Double Trouble told a story as dramatically as possible, garnering a satisfying amount of laughter and “ooh’s” and “aah's” from the crowd. And then finally right when Adora assumed Glimmer would be going up, Double Trouble called a different name.

“I see we have another newcomer to my stage tonight,” they drawled. “Catra, why don’t you make yourself comfortable, darling.”

Catra stood, crimson already colouring her cheeks from the attention, and wandering up to the bench that had been placed for people who wanted it. Usually those with instruments. She was smirking as she grabbed a guitar and got settled.

Adora pulled her gaze away from the brunette when Glimmer elbowed her and whispered, “Did you know she was going to do something?”

“No, she didn’t say anything to me,” responded Adora.

Glimmer nodded, her gaze turning back to Catra at the front. “Me either.”

When she was finally settled, guitar resting on her knee, Catra looked out to the crowd. She swallowed. Adora tried to find her gaze. She smiled reassuringly when they finally came eye-to-eye. Catra gave her a nervous half-smile back.

“Thanks, DT,” she finally said, nodding to the other counsellor who looked positively bursting with anticipation for what Catra would do next. They always did this when new counsellors participated. Catra cleared her throat. “I’m just gonna-” she didn’t even finish the sentence and just started playing.

She played the opening melody before slowly moving into the lyrics. Adora could see Glimmer watching wide-eyed in her peripheral but didn’t take her eyes off Catra.

_ “I've met someone that makes me feel seasick. Oh, what a skill to have. Oh, what a skill, to have so many skills that make her distinctive. But they're not mine to have. No they're not mine.” _

Adora had almost forgotten how well Catra could sing. It had always been a skill she had but rarely used. She never sang openly in the house and there were never opportunities like this at the Fright Zone. But sometimes she’d sing in the shower. And other times, as kids, after a particularly bad nightmare or one of them couldn’t sleep, Catra would sing until Adora fell asleep again. The memories of long nights spent listening to her, trying to stay awake just to hear it a little longer, came rushing back as soon as Catra sang the first line.

_ “Whenever she looks I read the nearest paper. No, I don't care about the soaps. No, I don't care about the soaps. Though I'm acting like I'm in an Eastenders episode.” _

She looked at Glimmer when the other girl squeezed her hand. A light blush was coating her cheeks and she was smiling warmly, surprise and affection dancing in her eyes even as she turned back to look at Catra. Adora watched Glimmer’s expressions shift from surprised to knowing to warm as Catra’s voice carried over the audience before quickly finding herself staring back toward the front once more. 

_ “If this is a rom-com, kill the director. If this is a rom-com, kill the director, please.” _

Glimmer giggled, hand flying up to cover her mouth. Adora pressed her lips together to stifle her own amusement at the near-irony of the lyric. Catra was smirking even as she blushed, obviously not missing either of their reactions. 

_ “Carrots help us see much better in the dark. Don't talk to girls; they'll break your heart. And this is my head, and this is my spout...They work together; they can't figure anything out.” _

It was nice to see how good Catra had gotten at guitar over the years. Adora had encouraged her to pick it up in middle school, but she didn’t think Catra had continued with it after she had left. Clearly, she had. She wondered what else she had missed and would need to relearn. She looked at Glimmer. Would she get to learn it all? Would they both get to? She felt her cheeks heat up.

_ “So with the angst of a teenage band...here's another song about a gender I'll never understand. Here's another song about a gender I'll never understand.” _

Adora’s thoughts wandered back to her conversation with Bow. Did Glimmer really like Catra? Did  _ she  _ like Catra? The more she thought about it, the less weird the idea became. And it wasn’t exactly subtle if she examined everything that had happened in the past few weeks. It was the same nervous anticipation she’d finally put a name to with Glimmer when the other girl had kissed her back in the cramped dorm room she’d called home for eight months.

“ _ If this is a rom-com, kill the director. If this is a rom-com, kill the director. If this is a rom-com, kill the director, please. _ ”

Adora hid a laugh behind her fist. Glimmer glanced at her, something Adora couldn’t quite place sparkling in her eyes. She smiled and Adora squeezed her hand again in response. Glimmer sighed happily as she settled against Adora, resting her head on her shoulder. Heart swelling with affection, Adora turned her attention back to the front just as Catra was concluding the song. The last words seemed to hang in the air and Catra had a shy smirk hanging off her lips, the corner twitching slightly as the crowd burst into the routine applause and cheers that just made her face light up with a radiant blush.

A few giggles poured from Glimmer as she clapped and made a show of cheering just to embarrass the other girl. Adora joined the applause but was watching Glimmer now. The giggles between her cheers were contagious and Adora knew without seeing herself that she had that idiotic (Catra’s words) grin on her face.

Catra had stood, bowing once a little awkwardly but enough to get the kids to laugh and cheer some more. Adora snickered, the action more amusing than she thought it should be. Maybe she was just caught up in the already joyful feeling building in her chest; threatening to pour out. Just before heading back to her seat, Catra handed the guitar off to Double Trouble, exchanging a few words that caused a sly smile to grow on their face.

Adora resisted the urge to jump up the second Catra was within range. Glimmer did not, bouncing right out of her seat and only halting seconds away from hugging the other girl. Adora covered up another laugh as she watched, but Catra caught it and shot her a glare—which only made her laugh harder. 

“What?” cried Catra defensively.

Glimmer looked like it was taking everything in her not to hug Catra. Adora just continued to laugh, trying to respond through her fit. “N-nothing!” Catra raised her brow. Adore snorted. “Stop looking a-at me like that! You were so good!”

Catra shook her head. “You’re still looking at me weird.”

“I am not!”

“You literally are right now!”

Adora finally jumped up to shove Catra playfully. Her cheeks were starting to hurt from her grin, but she only fell further into her own amusement when Catra nearly fell into a group of campers in the cramped seating area.

“Careful!” Glimmer was rolling her eyes as the pair looked back at her with bashful grins, still trying to shove their elbows into each other’s ribs. “You guys are ridiculous.” She looked like she was going to say something else, but her attention turned away when Double Trouble called her name at the front. She nodded and turned back to her co-counsellors. “My turn.” She shot the two girls a dazzling smile, placing a hand on her hip. “Don’t… damage each other while I’m gone.”

Adora wheezed and let out a groan when Catra’s elbow finally successfully planted into her ribs, but she nodded and gave Glimmer a thumbs up as she keeled over, clutching her abdomen. 

Catra was cackling. “No promises, Sparkles.”

Glimmer sighed and headed for the front. Adora peeked up, still working to not expose herself to another attack from Catra’s bony arm, and sent as supportive an expression as she could. Glimmer caught the look and stuck her tongue out. She scrunched up her face in response and moved to sit back down.

Catra followed suit, but not without stopping in front of Adora to press a long finger into her forehead with a shit-eating grin. Adora batted her hand away and boldly used it to pull her down onto the bench. She let out a quiet yelp and glared at Adora.

Adora snorted. Her fingers were still entangled in Catra’s. Neither of them moved. Catra was still glaring at her, but Adora could see a glint of amusement in her bicoloured eyes. Butterflies rose in her chest, heat crawling up her neck.

Catra’s gaze dropped to their hands and then shot back up when Glimmer’s voice drifted over the crowd. Adora couldn’t hear what was being said, her heart was pounding again. Glimmer’s voice started drifting over the crowd, light and sweet and pushing its way past the pounding in Adora’s ears.

“ _ Space Girl, show me the stars...you know the galaxies of my heart. _ ”

The corner of Catra’s lip twitched as she tensed. Adora didn’t dare move, waiting to see what she would do. Her hand felt warm and tingly tangled up in Catra’s fingers. 

“ _ Space Girl, I saw a lunar eclipse..looked like how I feel ‘bout your lips. _ ”

Adora swallowed in an attempt to fix the dryness that suddenly pulled at the back of her throat. Catra had looked away, gaze now resting on Glimmer, her mouth hanging open the tiniest bit.

Not that she was… staring, or anything.

“ _ Space Girl, the only way that we'd end...was if you were sucked into a black hole… _ ”

Glimmer’s voice was so nice, warm and fluttery. She was always humming or quietly singing something and Adora loved every second of it. It made her feel relaxed in a way she hadn’t felt since… well, since the nights of listening to Catra sing quietly in the dark of their shared bedroom, loud enough for her to hear, quiet enough not to disturb the other kids in the room that probably had too many people sleeping in it.

“ _ But I'd still spend my days dreaming ‘bout you...dreaming ‘bout you. _ ”

She felt her cheeks heat up as she glanced back down at their intertwined fingers. Catra seemed to be completely ignoring the fact that they were—rather obviously at this point— _ holding hands _ . Or had she even noticed...who was she kidding? How could she  _ not _ notice?

“ _ Tell me how to… _ ”

Catra pulled away from the front and met her eyes. Adora flushed deeply and looked away, nearly pulling her hand away in her embarrassment at being caught staring. But not quite. Catra’s brows pinched together—Adora could see it in her peripheral—and after a split second, her cheeks turned pink and she yanked her hand away, shoving both hands into the pockets of her hoodie. Adora frowned at the loss of contact, thoughts racing for the reason. 

If they  _ both _ ... had feelings for Catra—that much seemed obvious according to Bow—than did Catra… have feelings for them?  _ Both of them? _

“ _ Stop dreaming ‘bout you. _ ”

***

“Ow!” exclaimed Catra, hissing in pain and yanking her hand back, rubbing her still-bare wrist. “Remind me why I’m letting  _ you _ do this?”

Frosta shrugged, reaching for Catra’s wrist again. “Because I asked and you can’t say no to me?” She sent Catra a winning smile. 

Catra rolled her eyes. “I know they’re burn bracelets, but you don’t have to— _ ow! _ —make it literal!”

“Stop flinching!”

“Stop dripping burnt plastic on me!”

Frosta pushed her hand away and crossed her arms. “You're impossible.”

“And you’re terrible at this,” replied Catra, sticking her tongue out childishly. “Just let me put yours on.”

Frosta huffed in annoyance but still put her wrist out. Catra smirked and grabbed the colourful cord resting on the bench beside her. She measured it on the smaller girl’s wrist and cut the rope to size. She deftly folded it in half, melted both ends with the lighter, dipped her fingers in the water filling the cap of her water bottle, and fixed it on Frosta’s wrist by pressing the melted ends together, adding to the growing collection of similar bracelets on the girl’s arm.

“See! That was  _ so _ easy,” teased Catra, letting Frosta pull her hand back. 

Eyes narrowing, Frosta scoffed. “I didn’t move around like an impatient toddler.”

“I did that in like fifteen seconds!” Catra poked her forehead, pushing Frosta back as she stood. “There was hardly time to move.”

“You just want Glimmer or Adora to do it for you,” Frosta replied smugly. 

Catra flushed and  _ didn’t _ push her off the bench. She sure wanted to though. Frosta just continued to look at her with smug satisfaction. “Maybe I’ll just go get Lily to do it. She seems to be better at burning the bracelet and not the person.”

“SHut-”

“That’s not very nice. Are you sure you want to finish that?”

Frosta pointed back at the bench. “Just let me do it!”

Catra grinned. “Sure whatever.” She sat back down and regarded Frosta cheekily. “C’mon I don’t have all day.”

“Oh I’m sorry,” replied Frosta sarcastically as she dipped her fingers in the water and finally successfully put the bracelet together, “I didn’t realize you’d need,” she pretended to check her watch, “six hours to get ready for banquet. What, is it a  _ date _ or something?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Catra defended. “Besides what’s there to get ready for? It’s just outdoor dining and what was it? Awards? Seems pretty boring to me.”

Frosta raised a brow. “You mean you don’t know?”

Confusion tugged at Catra as she raised a cocky brow in response. “Know what? That the awards are actually exciting? Because I doubt that.”

“You’re supposed to dress up for banquet. That’s why it has a fancy name.” Frosta snorted at the small wave of horror dawning on Catra’s face. “Everyone gets a little dressed up. The counsellors place bets on who is best dressed. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

Catra made a face. She had to… dress up. At a summer camp. For a banquet that was outside.  _ At a summer camp _ .

“ _ Why? _ ” she asked incredulously. 

Frosta shrugged. “I dunno. It’s fun. Some people go all out, like DT and Glimmer, but others just throw on a nicer shirt and call it a day.”

Catra blinked. “Does Adora?”

The smirk on Frosta’s face was insufferable, but Catra had other things to think about. “Does Adora what?”

“Go… all out?”

“She usually wears something a little fancy,” Frosta said casually. “I think it’s more Glimmer’s influence though.”

Catra nodded slowly. She didn’t bring anything that would fit these requirements. She barely even had any dressy clothes. The only thing she could think of was the one suit she owned that was hanging in Scorpia’s closet in Storm City. It had been for prom. She didn’t wear it. Or go to prom.

Shaking away the thoughts, she crossed her arms and leaned back slightly. She vainly tried to claw back some of her earlier bravado. “That sounds like Sparkles.” The line fell flat and probably came off more endearing than anything. 

Frosta looked far too pleased with herself. Catra was ten seconds away from melting into a puddle of embarrassment from walking right into another one of this meddling kid’s plans.

It was bad enough she was continuing to let her  _ feelings _ take the wheel on any and every decision she’d made in the past week. What was she thinking? She’d been more impulsive this summer than in the past five years. It gave her a feeling of freedom she wasn’t familiar with while simultaneously filling her with enough dread to keep her from doing something  _ completely _ stupid. Sort of. By her normal standards, she’d already done many completely stupid things.

Stupid like letting her hand stay tangled with Adora's the day before during Glimmer's performance. Stupid like letting herself stare like a star-struck idiot as Glimmer's voice had drifted over the crowd. She was supposed to be  _ ignoring _ these things. But every day they crawled closer to the midsummer break and she found herself caring just a little less every day whether or not she let herself… do whatever it was she was doing. She shoved down the urge to run her fingers through her hair anxiously, instead focusing on Frosta's scheming grin. 

“Just ask Adora for a shirt or something. She always has back up stuff.”

The flush on Catra’s cheeks crawled down to her neck at the suggestion, but before she could say anything another voice joined the conversation. 

“Catra needs a shirt?” asked Adora, confusion lacing her voice. “What?”

“For banquet,” said Frosta, jumping at the chance to worsen Catra’s embarrassment. “Catra didn’t know it was dressy.”

Adora nodded. “Oh yeah, they always forget to put that on the packing list for some reason. I should remind Micah. Again. I wonder if he’ll have a minute tonight-”

“Do you have something I can borrow or not?” snapped Catra, face hot as she glared daggers at Frosta. The smaller girl just smiled brightly.

Adora paused. “Yeah, I do. Mostly just some dress shirts and a couple of bow ties. You can look later when we’re back at the cabin.”

“Thanks,” muttered Catra.

A moment passed where Adora seemed to be assessing Catra which only made her skin tingle with more heat, but it was quickly interrupted.

“We did our bracelets!” exclaimed Frosta, somehow managing to jump from being Catra’s worst nightmare to her saving gracing in half a second. 

Catra wasn’t sure whether she should be mad or grateful. The former seemed the easier option, but still, she held her wrist up with a wry expression. “She only burned my arm fourteen times.”

Adora laughed and Catra found herself relaxing. A little bit. Frosta had stood and was showing off the bracelet excitedly, but not before knocking the water bottle all over Catra in her exuberance.

“Frosta!”

Frosta turned back with an impish glint in her eyes, feigning shock in all her other features. “Oh jeez sorry! It was an accident.”

And back to her worst nightmare.

Catra sighed. “It’s fine,” she grimaced. “Just water.”

Adora was trying to hide her laughter behind her hand rather unsuccessfully much to Catra’s mortification. “I’ll walk with you if you want to go change.”

“Yeah okay.”

In the seconds-long interaction, Frosta seemed to have slipped away. She was now over talking with Lily and a few other girls, occasionally looking back at Catra and Adora with a beaming smile. Catra clenched her jaw in annoyance. She’d deal with her meddling later. Turning to Adora, she gestured for them to leave.

“Hey Glim,’ Adora called over. Glimmer looked up, warmth sparkling in her eyes. It made Catra’s heart flutter, a feeling she was becoming far too familiar with. Adora gestured to Catra vaguely. “We’ll be right back!”

Glimmer nodded, hand flying up to stifle her giggles when she looked at Catra. Catra shoved Adora, ignoring the somehow worsening blush burning her cheeks, and strode ahead. “Let’s go, dummy.”

Adora picked up her pace to catch up, laughs pouring forth. “You know Frosta did that on purpose, right?”

“Uh, yeah, thanks, Captain Obvious,” replied Catra, rolling her eyes, but slowing down to let Adora fall into step beside her. There was a snap in her tone, left over from her embarrassment, that she softened as she continued, “Why’d you volunteer to come back with me then? I’m not ten. I think I can manage a change of clothes.”

Adora shrugged. “I wanted to, I guess.”

Catra shot her a funny look.

“What?” she laughed.

“You’re weird.”

“I know you are, but what am I?”

Catra groaned, hurrying forward again. “Nevermind. I’m leaving you behind. Bye Adora.”

Adora snorted and jogged to catch up. She caught Catra’s eye, smiling mischievously. “I’ll race you back to the cabin,” she suggested.

“Just so you can lose?”

“I always win with a head start,” she teased before taking off.

Catra shook her head, watching her run ahead. Adora turned back for a moment, jogging backwards. “You coming?” Her eyes were still shining with mischief and her grin was bright and contagious and made Catra’s heart race. Adora nearly tripped from moving backwards and Catra snorted. Adora righted herself and sent one more stupidly challenging grin Catra’s way. Butterflies exploded in her stomach.

How could she fall for such an idiot?

She stopped dead in her tracks, brows pinching with confusion.

Wait...what?

She blinked, a weird mix of dread and warmth filling her chest. 

Did she just- She didn’t mean-

With another groan, she ran after Adora. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3 no idea when the next chapter will be up, but i'm hoping soon now that i'm completely done with school! and again, merry christmas and happy holidays <3
> 
> oh and go look up the acoustic version of kill the director by the wombats! i listened to it far too many times while writing this along with space girl, which i've had on repeat for weeks now dhjkfhd

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! xx


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